Best of Web: 'Whatever' is most annoying word...

'Whatever' is most annoying word...

(AGENCY)

For the second year in a row, Americans ranked "whatever" as the most annoying word or phrase used in conversation, a Marist Poll released today found.

Thirty-nine per cent of those polled were most irritated by the oft-used "whatever", while 28 per cent found the term "like" the most offensive.

The rhetorical "you know what I mean?" was ranked third by 15 per cent of those polled, followed by 10 per cent who were most annoyed by the phrase "to tell you the truth".

Last year, "whatever" was crowned most-hated word by 47 per cent of those polled.

Younger Americans, those 18 to 29, currently have a different take.  44% of these residents wouldn’t mind if “like” is abolished in everyday conversation.

Their older counterparts disagree.  Among those 30 to 44, 37% say “whatever” gets on their nerves the most.  46% of Americans 45 to 59 and 40% of those 60 and older agree.

Runaway bear is back behind bars after mountain ramble

(AGENCY)

A young bear that bolted from a zoo on the outskirts of the South Korean capital Seoul has been captured on a nearby mountain after nine days on the run, zoo officials said Wednesday.

The six-year-old Malaysian black bear nicknamed "KKoma" (kid) escaped from Seoul Zoo at Gwacheon on December 6 and was sighted on a mountain about six kilometres (four miles) away.

Kkoma was Wednesday found caught in a trap placed at the mountain summit and appeared to be in good shape, a zoo spokesman told Yonhap news agency. 

Zoo officials said they plan to move the bear back to its cage after giving it a medical check-up.

Plans to anaesthetise the 30-kilogram (66-pound) male bear so he can be moved more easily have, however, hit a snag: the weather on the mountain is cold enough to freeze the liquid.

Mariah Carey refutes gay rumours

(AP)

Popstar Mariah Carey says that the longstanding rumours of her being attracted to women are not true. The Hero hitmaker, who is expecting her first baby with husband Nick Cannon has long faced allegations that she is secretly a lesbian, despite being married twice. "If it makes somebody happy to say that, then whatever, but that's not the reality. I don't have a discriminatory policy of who I'm friends with, so yes, I'm friends with women who are gay, it doesn't matter to me. So I don't get upset when I hear that, because it is what it is. I guess I could lie about it to seem more exciting," Carey said in an interview for gay magazine, The Advocate.

However, the 40-year-old singer insisted that she is fully supportive of gay rights and is in favour of the campaign for same-sex marriage to be made legal in the US.

Hurley to pay the price for marriage split

(GETTY IMAGES)

Liz Hurley may lose a substantial chunk of her $20 million fortune to her husband if they divorce.

Despite Arun Nayar's reputation as a tycoon, his wealth is believed to be vastly exceeded by hers.

The Daily Mail in London has discovered the couple did not sign a pre-nuptial agreement before their lavish wedding ceremonies in India and Britain in 2007.
A source revealed: "A pre-nup would have been a deal-breaker for Arun. He has his pride."

Miss Hurley, 45, announced on Sunday that her marriage to 46-year-old Mr Nayar was over after pictures emerged of her kissing cricket legend Shane Warne.

The News of the World said she spent two nights in a London hotel with the spin king last week, after months of exchanging flirtatious messages on Twitter.

Her husband was said to be devastated by media pictures of the pair in a passionate embrace.

The actress and model is understood to be preparing to visit 41-year-old Warne in Melbourne in the new year, to fulfil a promise to appear on his TV chat show Warnie, reports news.com.au.
 
Recently she posted a message on Twitter telling her fans: "Thank you for all your very, very nice messages x."

 
Hanging on to dear life by the fingertips

(AGENCY)

British student hangs on to bridge as best friend plummets to death in icy river, reports Daily Mail.

Rescue crews found Joe Cundall dangling over Fort Lauderdale's New River, after he and best friend Kyle Conrad were caught out when the bridge they were crossing suddenly rose.

Cundall was treated in hospital for injuries to his back and ankle and later released, the newspaper said.

However his friend was not so lucky. Conrad couldn't keep his grip and fell into the water.

He was later pronounced dead in hospital.
 
 
Tiger's ex wife dating again

(AP)

Elin Nordegren, ex-wife of golf superstar Tiger Woods, is allegedly getting close to a handsome student at her Florida college, The Sun reported.

Nordegren, 30, has been spotted "kissing and cuddling" a 35-year-old South African classmate by a fellow student at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where the former Mrs Woods is studying psychology part-time.

"I don't know if it's gone further," the insider added about the couple.

The former Swedish model reportedly received a $110 million settlement in her August divorce from Woods. Their marriage crumpled after details of the athlete's torrid affairs became public in November 2009.

Nordegren, who splits her time between Florida and her native Sweden, and Woods, 34, share custody of their two children, three-year-old daughter Sam and one-year-old son Charlie.
 
 

Transplant may have cured man of AIDS

(AGENCY)

Doctors say that a very unusual blood cell transplant appears to have cured an American man living in Berlin of infection with the AIDS virus.

However, they warn people not to get their hopes up, because this approach is too risky and impractical to be used widely.

The man had a blood stem cell transplant in 2007 to treat leukemia. His donor had a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to HIV. A report in the journal Blood says that three years later, he shows no sign of cancer or HIV.

Blood cell transplants are done now for cancer. Five percent or more of the recipients can die from them.

Doctors say the procedure is not something for healthy people, especially because drugs keep HIV in check for most.  

 
The longest lunch in the world

(AGENCY)

No kidding, when citizens of Lychun, China said they were having a long lunch they were not kidding, assembling a dining table that stretch 6,000 feet, reports Metro.

The banquet was part of the local tradition and customs of the Hani people and is supposed to bring good luck.

1,860 tables were used in order to seat some 10,000 diners, the newspaper said.

An organiser of the event said: ‘It is our tradition to celebrate the harvest by gathering together for a meal. The length of the meal determines our luck for the next harvest, like the length of a dragon in a dragon dance.’

The lengthy lunch was not long enough to secure a world record however, with the biggest ever banquet stretching some 12,000ft.
 

Now, bowling-pin shaped egg

(AP)

A man in China was amazed when his chicken laid a bowling-pin shaped egg, reports Metro.

Zhang Yunfeng, 75, from Jize in northern China’s Hebei Province, heard one of his ten hens clucking and rushed to the scene.

He explained: ‘When I arrived I saw her produce a bowling-pin shaped egg. It's the first time I saw such a weird shaped egg.’

Experts have claimed many things can lead to strange shaped eggs, including ovulation problems, hormonal imbalances and eating the wrong kind of food. 

Cruise and Beckham start exclusive bikers club

(AGENCY)

Celebrity pals Tom Cruise and David Beckham have reportedly started an exclusive bikers club for Hollywood stars in LA.

The pair set up the Midnight Boys Bike Club together, inviting other stars to take part in midnight motorbike cruises around Hollywood with them, reported The Mirror.

A source told the paper, "The boys love to ride. They're out as often as they can and Becks has really learned how to ride from Tom.

"At midnight they can get away with cruising around in a group and seeing the sights of LA without a zillion paparazzi chasing them around. It works for them and they've had so much fun doing it so far.

"They are trying to get other Hollywood actors like Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt to join the group too. It's a case of the more people the better."
 
 

Wrap and hip op, nanny Pat

(AGENCY)

Grandma Pat Punter, who works for Amazon, is so fast she can wrap a CD in 4 seconds, reports The Sun.

If you find the chore of packing gifts difficult, here we, er, present Britain's best wrapper.

Pat Punter, 57, works in Amazon's colossal warehouse doing nothing other than wrapping presents.

And she is so fast she can do a CD in FOUR seconds and a book in less than a minute.

The grandma of five gets through miles of paper every single day, wrapping thousands of items. With ten years behind her, she is one of the longest-serving full-time wrappers at Amazon's base near Milton Keynes, Bucks. 
 
 
51% of parents can’t spot obesity

(AFP)

More than half of parents cannot spot a child who is clinically obese, a poll has revealed.

Britain faces a childhood obesity epidemic, with a third of kids either overweight or obese.

But many mums and dads think super-sized kids just carry a small bit of weight - when they are often so huge they require adult clothes.

The findings emerged from a poll of almost 1,200 parents, reports The Sun.

Mums and dads with kids under 15 were shown digitally-altered photos of youngsters either normal weight, overweight or obese.

Fifty-one per cent could not identify the child who was obese. 
 
 
India's Super 30 impresses James Cameron

(AFP)

Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron was all ears when Anand Kumar, who founded Indian eastern state's (Bihar's) Super 30 free coaching centre for students, narrated the real life stories of hope that his institute has generated year after year, reports IANS.

"Cameron told me it was amazing to listen to my real life stories of hope. He was so impressed that he hinted at using such stories with people across the world," Kumar, who shared the platform with Cameron during the Innovation and Knowledge Conference in Lavasa, Maharashtra was quoted by the agency.

Kumar's Super 30 centre has helped many poor students enter the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), claims the wire agency.

He said Cameron, the acclaimed Canadian filmmaker of Titanic, Terminator, Aliens and Avataar, appreciated his efforts and promised to visit Patna.

Kumar said it was a matter of great pride that a teacher like him was given an opportunity to speak before such distinguished personalities. "It was an honour for my state also where I grew up and started my institute," he said.

He said he narrated some untold stories of young and talented underprivileged students from Bihar and their journey to the IITs. It drew tremendous appreciation from the audience, Kumar added.
 

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