What words or phrases get on your last nerve?

For those who pay attention to the little things, a new Marist poll has tracked down those words and phrases that grate the conscience of Americans.

The reigning champion of annoying words, grabbing the top spot for the ninth consecutive year, is “whatever,” according to the poll.

In fact, a full third of all respondents named it the most annoying of all words, with that percentage increasing to 40 percent when only those respondents 45 years old and up were considered.

This year saw an upstart, new phrase making a run on the number two spot, however.

Nearly one-fourth of respondents, 23 percent, said that “fake news” was the most annoying word. The phrase, popularized by President Trump, is a new addition to the list.

Yeah. It’s a phrase with a purpose, however, so we’re stuck with it, until we have only one, state-run news agency, or Trump is out of office, whichever comes first.

Trump has kept up a steady drumbeat against any network that isn’t sufficiently worshipful.

We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2017

Yeah. After he tweeted that, a Rasmussen poll, asking which network should get the “fake news” trophy, the resounding majority of respondents said they would give the trophy to Fox News.

Anyway, speaking of categorizing annoying words and phrases, those respondents younger than 45 weren’t as put off by either “whatever” or “fake news.”

The youngsters were most annoyed by, “No offense, but…”

I get that. Usually, when somebody begins a statement with, “No offense, but…” they are inevitably about to say something offensive.

It’s just like when someone says, “With all due respect…” You know immediately that they’re about to disrespect you.

This particularly fun, albeit unimportant poll was conducted from November 6 to November 9, among 1,074 adults. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.