Whatever....
 

Does anyone know when the sarcastic retort "whatever" came into being?

For the last few days I've been trying to explain to one of the French students how to use this expression correctly but she can never get a feel for it and its really comical.

By the way, is it "whatever" or "what ever"?

Who knows?

I think it is from the movie Valley Girl but I could be wrong.....

nah ha, unless they remade the original Valley Girl from 1983 with Nicolas Cage - otherwise it's way to old. "What Everrrr" showed up about 3-5 yrs ago.

Archie Bunker used to say "whatever" in the 70's.

I remember people saying it when I was in high school 15 years ago.......

The movie Clueless gave it the most exposure, I think.

My thirteen year old daughter and most U.S. teens abuse the word ''like'' . They say ''I'm like - that's what I said and she's like - no it isn't . Teens and even young adults use ''like'' in almost every sentence . I'm sure you all have noticed this too . Is this some kind of ''ebonics'' ?

Unfortunately, I catch myself using "like" more than I should. I usually use it more for a pause to collect my thoughts when I am describing something, or to compare something. It just happens to be the shortest word when comparing, even though I might have a vocabulary with other examples.

However, I am just 2 years out of high school, where many of my friends used it incorrectly. (excuses, excuses)

I have only used the word 'whatever' to someone when they are so mind-bogglingly obviously wrong or use logical fallacies that make my head hurt, simply to get them to shut up and go away. But never in that 'valley girl' style. I know a valley girl, and she hates the stereotypical 'vg' more than I do, simply because she had to put up with them and the stereotype being put on her. But, she is an engineer, so that would explain a great many things.