An expression that didn’t exist when I was a student is “whatever…” The ellipsis at the end is important because the power of “whatever…” is what it doesn’t say. On its surface, it’s colloquial for “It doesn’t matter,” except it is indifference with an “edge” that adds cynicism to that indifference. Not only do users of “whatever…” not care, they are also telling you to “get lost.”

Every election for the past twenty years has left most of my students with a “whatever…” reaction. Most didn’t vote because they thought it didn’t matter who was elected. They ranked politicians with used car salesmen and lawyers on their scale of trustworthiness.