271In online discussions (see Sheidlower 2009 ; Zwicky 2009 ; Wikipedia : s.v.
whatever (slang); Urban dictionary : s.v. whatever ; hubpages.com; quora.
com^18 ), there is general agreement about the meaning(s) of whatever. It may
express amenability, that is, acceptance of or acquiescence to the interlocutor’s
point of view. This may include the speaker’s unwillingness to take responsi-
bility for a decision or action. Whatever also indicates the speaker’s wish not
to engage further in discussion and is a means of bringing a topic to an end. It
may express the speaker’s boredom, indifference, or dismissiveness and is, for
this reason, often considered disrespectful, offensive, or impolite.^19 It serves as
a means for the speaker to control the interaction (hubpages.com), denying the
hearer the opportunity to respond. In this sense it is a “conversational blocking
tool” ( Wikipedia ). The negative meaning of whatever is expressed most force-
fully by one user of the Urban dictionary : whatever is “[u] ttered in a derisive
and dismissive tone, in response to a confrontation or accusation which has
been judged to be unimpressive, obnoxious, or disingenuous. Often used to
dismiss someone when it is clear that rational discussion would be a waste of
time and energy.” When dealing with others, Puhn ( 2012 ) warns against the
use of whatever because it is “setting yourself and your relationship up for a
downfall.”^20
A shortened form of the pragmatic marker – wev – is discussed by Liberman
( 2007 ). In the post, Ben Zimmer suggests that this is a clipping (not an instant
messaging abbreviation) from whatever > whatev(s) > wev , noting that both
shortened forms are attested online ( Urban dictionary : s.v.v. wev , whatev ,
whatevs , wever , wevz , evs , w/ e , w/ ev , w/ ever ).
The word whatever in this usage has been seen as emblematic of what is
wrong in youth culture, “a mark of disaffected young people ... conveying
apathy, dismissiveness, and a variety of related attitudes (lack of commitment,
refusal to make discriminations, and so on)” (Zwicky 2009 ). Using the term in
much the same way, Baron ( 2008 : Ch. 8) speaks of “linguistic whateverism,”
or “a marked indifference to the need for consistency in linguistic usage ... a
challenge to the fundamental principle of language as rule governed behav-
ior” (169). Linguistic whateverism is a result – in large part – of language use
18 See:
http:// hubpages.com/ relationships/ answer/ 150862/ when- you- say- something- to- someone- and-
they- respond- by- saying– whatever- what- does- that- mean (accessed June 20, 2016).
http://www.quora.com/ Why- do- we- have- such- a- pungent- reaction- when- someone- responds- with-
whatever (accessed June 20, 2016).
19 A cartoon (found by a Google image search) says “There’s a little bit of ‘Fuck you’ in every
‘Whatever’.”
20 Liberman ( 2007 ) points to the collocation of whatever with so or but , which seems to have
a meaning like “I don’t care” or “it doesn’t matter” or “that’s ok” (see also Tagliamonte
2016 : 202).
9.5 Whatever in Present-Day English