No punny title this time; if I’m going to throw a curve ball, I’m going to keep you in the dark about it.

Have you ever stopped to consider the word “whatever?” I doubt that you have. Most people use it without a second thought, but I’m not most people. It has one main meaning, but two connotations.

The meaning is usually agreed to be something along the lines of, “it doesn’t matter the reason or outcome.” I could give a better definition if I’d look it up, but that really won’t affect my point.

Whatever is quite popular with teenagers. They tend to emphasize the second part, what-eeeverr. This has a negative connotation to me, like they don’t care at all. I know they care about people and things, but this context and enunciation can hide that from the receiver.

Now, when it is pronounced evenly, it still means that the person speaking doesn’t care, but it seems to me that it takes on more of a “I don’t care what comes, I’ll be here right beside you,” not caring.

You might disagree. You might wish you hadn’t wasted your time reading this drivel. Next time you use a common word, take time to think how it sounds. As the old saying goes, “it isn’t what you say, but how you say it.”

I now return you to your regularly scheduled doldrums.