When did people begin using this word as a dismissive interjection?

Wikipedia says it was used in All in the Family. Was Archie an early populariser or an originator?

My recollection is that Archie used “whatever” defensively and with some passion, whereas today’s users often use it dismissively with a touch of irony.  And wasn’t there a gap of about 20 years between the end of All in the Family and the rise of the ironic/dismissive “whatever”?

Archie’s use doesn’t really bind with how it is used today.  With different inflections and context of use, “whatever” seemed to have picked up its dismissive use in the mid 90s

Such memories are, of course, suspect, but I recall it from junior high school in southern California in the mid-late 1970s.

I would guess that this developed from the phrase “or whatever”, which goes back at least to the 1970s.  “The students can use test tubes or Bunsen burners or whatever” implies that it is not important to be more precise.  It also suggests that the speaker has little knowledge of, or interest in, chemistry.

“Or whatever” = it’s not worth being specific.
“Whatever” as a dismissive reply = it’s not worth talking about.

Yeah I didn’t mean “it’s not worth talking about”. I meant the “whatever” that means “I don’t agree” or “I don’t believe you.”

“Honey, I only had a couple of beers.”
“WHATEVER!”

OP Tipping - 29 January 2011 07:16 PM

Yeah I didn’t mean “it’s not worth talking about”. I meant the “whatever” that means “I don’t agree” or “I don’t believe you.”

“Honey, I only had a couple of beers.”
“WHATEVER!”

But isn’t that still the dismissive whatever? In other words, whether you did or didn’t have only a couple (and my guess is you didn’t) it’s not worth pursuing.

"But isn’t that still the dismissive whatever? In other words, whether you did or didn’t have only a couple (and my guess is you didn’t) it’s not worth pursuing. “

Sort of, but something tells me that conversation is not over…

but something tells me that conversation is not over…

Right again.

Such memories are, of course, suspect, but I recall it from junior high school in southern California in the mid-late 1970s.

I left SoCal at the very end of ‘73 and I don’t remember it, but San Diego was significantly behind LA in trends. I was about to say it was maybe a shortening of “whatever you say” and popularized by Zappa’s “Valley Girl” song, but there it is on wikipedia’s Valley girl article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_girl

FWIW, I find it annoying and a little precious to have the title of an article use a cap on only the first letter of the first word, that is, unless otherwise called for. But I’ve been wrong before. It must be a trend the curve of which I am behind.

FWIW, I find it annoying and a little precious to have the title of an article use a cap on only the first letter of the first word, that is, unless otherwise called for. But I’ve been wrong before. It must be a trend the curve of which I am behind.

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It’s WP policy. Makes sense to me: differentiates between valley girl and Valley Girl.

Of course, it still doesn’t differentiate between Milk and milk but you can’t have everything.

Back OT, in Australia “whatever you reckon” is a phrase of long standing.