WASHINGTON – This word beat out its top competitors for four years running. But the reaction from the most annoying word of the year?

“You know, like, whatever,” the honorary word said with a shrug.

A Marist Poll found the word “whatever” when used in casual conversation irritates three out of 10 adults, or 32 percent of those surveyed. That’s down slightly from 38 percent who found the word annoying last year.

Marist says the word topped its rankings for the fourth year in a row.

Twenty-one percent of adults dislike “like,” the runner up for most annoying word for, like, the third year in a row. And third place “you know” irks 17 percent of respondents, according to the poll.

“Just saying” exasperates 10 percent of people and 9 percent would keep “Twitterverse” out of their conversations.

And “gotcha” maddens 5 percent, the poll found.

The poll findings generally held true across regions and age groups, with a few exceptions.

Seventeen percent of adults ages 18 to 29 disliked “Twitterverse,” ranking it the third most annoying word for this age group.

And 26 percent of adults older than 60 say “you know” is more irritating than “like.”

Past words and phrases that made the poll’s list include seriously, you know what I mean, to tell you the truth and actually.

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