So, you know, I hope you enjoy today’s little effort because, like, I’m going to write about the way, you know, young people talk these days.

You may have seen the story in last Sunday’s Life section that said the use of the word "whatever" was the most annoying in conversation, according to a Marist College poll. The phrase "you know" was the second most annoying.

If you’ve spent more than six seconds around a young person, you’ve heard both. I know several teenagers, so I hear "whatever" a lot and I certainly understand why people think it is annoying.

"Sweet Pea, I don’t care what your friends are doing. You are not going to go out with a 21-year-old tattooed carnival worker."

"Oh, my God. That is so not fair."

"I don’t care. As long as you live under my roof, you’ll live by my rules."

"Whatever."

It is almost always said in a very dismissive manner, as if to say, "I can’t be bothered by you one minute longer." It is almost always said with a roll of the eyes. And it is almost always said as if it were three words: "What. Ev. Er."

But to me, "whatever" isn’t close to being the most annoying word I hear in conversation.

What I hate is how the word "like" is used, as in, "I’m going to, like, call her on the phone and tell her if she doesn’t, like, stop talking about me, I’m going to hit her in the head with, like, a calculus book."

That drives me, like, crazy.

My 10-year-old niece, Hunter, and her friends Maris and Sadie use "like" all the time. Recently, Hunter was telling me a story about something the three of them did.

"We went to this, like, restaurant," she said.

Did you actually go to a restaurant or someplace that was like a restaurant?

"You are so annoying," she said.

Am I really annoying or am I annoying-like?

"Whatever."

It shouldn’t surprise any of us that the younger generation has its own way of talking. Every generation has done it. In the ’60s, people described things they liked as "groovy." In the ’70s, they were "radical." Today, they’re "hot."

And with apologies to Mrs. Hall, my favorite high school English teacher, and all of the armchair grammarians out there, it’s not really the end of the world if teenagers occasionally speak or write with incorrect grammar.

Certainly speaking and writing with proper grammar is important. We all should strive for grammatical correctness in our writing and in our speech.

But the most important part of communication is, well, communicating. As long as the message is being conveyed correctly, it shouldn’t matter if there’s a minor grammatical mistake.

Besides, sometimes the use of grammatical errors can actually help improve comprehension of what’s being communicated.

I occasionally use the word "ain’t" in this column. I know "ain’t" is grammatically incorrect. But I don’t care because, first, Mrs. Hall ain’t grading this column. And second, using "ain’t" sometimes gets the point across better than a grammatically correct word.

For instance, I could write, "I do not believe that I shall partake in any of those mushrooms."

But you’d understand my feelings better if I wrote, "I ain’t eating them things."

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting that we abandon all hope of teaching and learning grammar. It would be nice if everyone spoke proper English.

But our language is always evolving, and it is usually young people who are leading that change.

So what I’m suggesting to you is don’t fight it. You’ve all heard the expression, "If you can’t beat them, join them."

The next time you encounter a young person who says, for example, "I can’t believe you, like, said that to me," don’t get angry.

Just roll your eyes.

Then say, "Whatever."

You know?