I'm sure most of you have encounters where you were talking / chatting with someone and suddenly, the person replied you with... "Whatever lah".

Depending on the tone used, personally I think that though you may pass it off as a bitchy or joking manner at times, it usually does sound offensive to a certain extent, making you feel that the person you are talkin to is not interested in continuing the conversation. Things get worse if you are chatting on MSN where there's no tone in words that are being typed out in that small little window.

Apparently, this is not just a Singapore problem. People from all around the world are facing issues from this global lingo which kills off all conversations.

It seems that way back in 1973, "Whatever lah" has been in used but it's definition has been evolving as time venture into different eras.

So bear in mind that unless you are very familiar with that person, the wrong usage of words especially when it's typed out can jolly well offend the opposite party without you even realizing.

Read more about it here.