What makes a word annoying?

What qualifies as annoying? That's the question perplexing me today. More specifically, what makes a word or phrase annoying - the manner in which it is used or the over use of the term/phrase? I guess it depends on the University that is taking the poll.

"WHATEVER - anyway, it is what it is and at the end of that day that is annoying!"

Yesterday Marist College released a poll in which the word "Whatever," the popular slacker term of indifference was found "most annoying in conversation" by 47 percent of Americans.

"Whatever" topped the list with 47 percent of those polled saying it annoyed them the most. A quarter of Americans polled said the phrase "you know" made their skin crawl. The phrase "it is what it is" upsets 11 percent, 7 percent would ban "anyway" from conversations and another 2 percent said they would ax the phrase "at the end of the day."

"Whatever" is an expression with staying power. Immortalized in song by Nirvana ("oh well, whatever, nevermind") in 1991, popularized by the Valley girls in "Clueless" later that decade, it is still commonly used despite its apparent annoyance.

It can be an all-purpose argument-ender or a signal of apathy. And it can really be annoying. The poll found "whatever" to be consistently disliked by Americans regardless of their race, gender, age, income or where they live.

"Are you a maverick going green trying to reduce or carbon footprint by taking a staycation?"

Earlier this year, Lake Superior State University released a list of the most overused words and phrases that annoyed Americans over the last year. Topping that list was "carbon footprint" followed closely by "bailout" and "Wall Street," in comparison with Main Street.

Other words and phrases on the Lake Superior list included: Iconic, Game-changer, Desperate search, Not so much, Staycation, and It's that time of year again.

So what makes a word annoying? Comment below with your thoughts!