It's almost too smiley of a day to talk about today's topic, but I have taken on this Challenge, so discuss it I must. My only fear is that once I get started, I might not be able to stop listing, in no particular order, just a few of
My Pet Peeves
1. Apostrophes used to make words plural
2. Pajama-wearing in public
3. Masks worn with the nose uncovered
4. Use of the non-word "irregardless"
5. People who say "I could care less"*
6. Overuse of the word "like" in conversation
7. Smokers who hang around doorways
8. Scratchy pens
9. People who must tell you that they don't even have a TV
10. Blogs that make you click to Read More
11. Bloggers who don't acknowledge or answer comments, yet want you to leave them
12. Cat hair
13. When a product I love is discontinued
14. The ridiculous variations in sizing for women
15. People who say, "Tell me how you really feel" when you express strong emotion
*it's "I couldN'T care less (please tell me that you knew that)
Honestly, I could go on and on and on. I guess this is really more of a Bitch Session than a list of Pet Peeves, isn't it? Or are they the same thing? It doesn't matter. None of these things is enough to make me get truly angry or do more than just sigh or, on a bad day, want to smack someone. Sometimes, they even make me laugh, like the people who say loftily, "Oh, no, I don't watch TV. We haven't even owned one in years." I did laugh at that once, and when I recovered, I said, "I haven't heard something so ridiculous in my whole life!" I may have been a bit inebriated at the time because I don't remember anything else.
But I digress.
Please, take a load off and tell us a few of your Pet Peeves. Do we have some in common?
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ReplyDeleteI share all of those pet peeves, except the TV one, since my father LOATHED television so did not own one for several decades. But he didn't feel superior, he felt it was more like someone who loathed beets and thus did not eat them.
I hate "loose" used when ones means "lose". "I need to loose this COVID weight..." Unless you truly are loosing it upon the world, in which case, OK.
Me and her. I can't even. One of my dear friends says this and it hurts me.
Literally when one means figuratively.
The rule that you should not split an infinitive. Why the hell not? Because it's one word in Latin and thus should be together? What about, "To boldly go where no one had gone before"?
The rule that you should not end a sentence with a preposition. This one bugs me so much that I purposely flout it. And what's worse, people whose way of coping with the preposition is to just omit it from a sentence. Annoying.
People who discard their masks on the sidewalk or side of the road. Or their full dog poop bags, for that matter.
I'd better stop. I think I could go on all day, and I'm not even grumpy really. Lovely weather here, too, and it MAY rain a bit, which would be LOVELY. We could use a great big storm to end fire season for good, and we will not get that, but a little dousing would be welcome nonetheless.
Also, regarding 11, I'm working on that one! Sometimes it just doesn't occur to me, but then other times I remember my manners. :)
DeleteJ--My, yes, there are some terribly archaic and silly rules in The Language that basically serve only to separate the Grammar Snobs from the Hoi Polloi. To which I say, "Big Effing Deal." (I cannot even get worked up enough to use The Eff Word.)
DeleteThe preposition rule can lead to some really wonky sentences if you follow it religiously, so Clarity is always my watchword.
I also hate the discarded masks, especially when Thoughtless Morons leave them in grocery carts.
I'm not grumpy today, either! And I hope you get some nice rain (as I always do).
Reading your comments, I’m realizing that none of us are driving as much as we used to...not one comment yet about people neglecting to use their turn signal! Or using it and thinking that just because they turned it on means they can just pull into the next lane, not even trying to give one a chance to react.
DeleteOh, one more! Steak restaurants that charge you extra for a baked potato. Fancy steak places are so expensive, I think they could throw in a couple of side dishes!
J--I think many of us have just sighed and accepted the turn signal situation. I know I have. I've been beaten down, sad to say.
DeleteI agree about all fancy steak places. Potatoes are so cheap. Come on!
As I was trying to think of some pet peeves, I discovered that maybe I do not have many as I could not think of many. Although, after reading J's comment about discarded masks, I think I would say that litter is a big pet peeve of mine. I hike a lot and just do not like to see all of the litter that others will just dump in nature! I might be in a beautiful forest preserve and I will see a soda can or candy wrapper and I really get annoyed. People can be pigs!
ReplyDeleteEllen D--Yes! I've noticed in the past few years a much greater propensity toward litter, especially on the sidewalks and on the roadways. (Coincidence? Hmmm.) We need to get back to caring about our environment and Nature. Perhaps we need to resurrect the 1970s PSA with the weeping Iron Eyes Cody. Do you remember it? Here's a link.
DeleteMy one & only pet peeve (liar, liar, pants on fire...if you believe that statement I have ocean front property in AZ.)
ReplyDeleteAnyway off the top of my head is proper English. The use of "who" vs. "whom"...and such as "him and me" -It's a simple rule and so many misuse our skills. Oh and ending a sentence with a preposition.
Anni--I don't mind who V. whom. It's so archaic that it's almost quaint now. I don't give it a second thought, and I'm a real martinet when it comes to a lot of traditional language stuff.
DeletePronoun usage is quite dear to me, however, and so is subject-verb agreement. I'll end sentences with prepositions when the alternative is a terrible and awkward construction. Clarity is always the winner for me.
Ah, ocean front property! If only it were not in Arizona... :)
I am feeling very smiley today too, still glued to the TV but it's sure looking good! I can't wait until it's officially announced. As for pet peeves, I'm with you on 1,4,5,6 along with misuse of to/too/two, there/their/they're, your/you're. Loose when it should be lose and the use of alot instead of a lot really gets on my nerves. Then it's text talk. I use LOL and maybe a couple others in place of bad words myself, but all the other way overused abbreviations and lack of punctuation make me crazy! My son had an online class as a senior and the teacher wrote like that all the time. I was appalled! Bitch session complete :)
ReplyDeleteMartha--All those English Usage things go beyond Pet Peeves with me. They are in a special category that we Defenders Of The Language cannot even name. Seeing those things is like having a perpetual heel blister, hangnail, or papercut. It's like that small hair in your eye that you cannot get out, and every time you blink, there it is, painful and aggravating.
DeleteThat teacher? That...individual should be removed from his/her position immediately and reassigned to a job like folding underwear at Old Navy to mitigate his/her damage to the public at large.
I laughed at your wearing pajama in public comment. I was at the store today and saw five people dressed that way, and figure it was their pandemic office wear. I also saw the biggest assortment of PJs I've ever seen in my life for sale.
ReplyDeleteI share your pet peeves, 9,10,11,12 and 13 plus the one in the comments above about discarded masks in public. I just saw a Facebook post that said wildlife is getting tangled in them and dying because people are too selfish/careless with them.
Jean--Holy crap! You saw FIVE people in jammies in the store? I'd probably throw up or leave immediately. I don't care if that's their home office wear--they need to leave it at home.
DeleteI feel like people are selfish and careless in the extreme when they simply toss a germy mask on the ground (or in a grocery cart). They're littering, possibly exposing others to disease, AND endangering wildlife. It would be awesome if some outraged squirrel would follow the offender home, plop their yucky mask on their pillow, and bite them, too.
Nance, you made me laugh with the squirrel bite comment! Nicely done. And yes, people that do that suck. And because the masks are germy and gross, the rest of us are hesitant to pick up after them.
DeleteJ--LOL. Glad you got a laugh. But yes, I'll pick up some litter here and there as a good citizen, but no way I'll touch a mask. NO WAY.
Delete#10 & #11 are high on my list this morning. Seems obvious but the fewer the clicks to get to your blog post the better. Also, I like blogging, but I do not like how some people are rude about answering comments on a timely basis-- or at all. Not cool.
ReplyDeleteAlly Bean--I guess I just don't get it. I also don't get some blogs that have several different "sites within sites", wherein you have to first find the blog, then click it, then click to read more. I've given up on those places entirely.
DeleteDee--How sad and pathetic. She probably thought she looked cute. Yuck. And I would be outraged at the obvious hurrying of the season as well. I'm with you--let me have Thanksgiving first! We have a radio station here in CLE that started playing Christmas music on November 1st and will be playing it continuously until New Year's Day. How insane.
ReplyDeleteDee--YES to your "creative" spelling. Drives me nuts. And I am always amazed at the number of people who use speaker phone in the grocery store. It's an imposition on others, really.
ReplyDeleteThe idling car thing happens all the time in my neighborhood. Rather than just turn the car off and go inside, they sit in the car and chat. HEY--INVITE THE PERSON IN OR ONTO YOUR PORCH OR PATIO.
Selfish people abound. It's either that, or they're just oblivious, which is a special kind of selfish.
I'm not as bothered by the grammar issues are you are, but coming from your background, I totally get it. Although, when someone writes I SEEN yada yada, I do cringe.
ReplyDeletePeople who talk with food in their mouths.
People who drive consistently in the left (passing) lane of the highway with no thought of passing anyone or moving over.
BB Suz--AAACCKKK--I seen. How the heck did that become so prevalent? It automatically marks the speaker as less than intelligent.
DeletePeople talking with food in their mouths is terrible, as are those who chew with their mouths open. I don't get it.
Agree with the left-lane squatters. Maybe they think it's all for them.
Oh my dear Nance, your brilliance and productivity shame me. I've been meaning to reply to your post about taking walks since the early months of the pandemic, and I still mean to, but these peeves can't wait. I know I've complained about #1 (apostroplurals) on the MW &Me blog, but this unfortunate trend reminds me of a genre-specific annoyance, namely the use of ampersands in published poetry. It's really nothing new - you can find examples of it from a hundred years ago - but I am offended by it on behalf of the perfectly good word "and." Are these poets too lazy to type the word out in its 3-letter fullness? When they give readings do they say, for instance, "life ampersand death"? In the current issue of the American Poetry Review, one poem actually begins with an ampersand, and another poet has decided to replace the word "with" with "w/." Arghhhh.
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you on your other peeves, except maybe for pajama wearing in public, in regard to which I would suggest that once you've browsed the People of Walmart site, you might cease to even notice such comparatively benign attire.
You may have noticed one of our MW & Me friends (Regina) complaining about the wildly inappropriate use of the "Replay to All" option, which also bugs me. A friend of mine likes to email jokes/cartoons to a long list of friends, which invariably fills my In Box with compelling messages such as "Ha ha" and "Good one!"
Also, it seems these days that whenever I am making a right turn while driving, the person behind me will swerve around me into the oncoming traffic lane rather than slowing down one iota. They do this regardless of a double yellow line and regardless of actual oncoming traffic. They do this even when I myself might be exceeding the speed limit. And yes, I have signaled my turn in a timely manner. Do they teach this impatient swerve move in Driver Ed. courses now?
Yahoonski--Hey! Welcome to the Dept.! I hope you drop in to Comments often.
DeleteAnd I bask shamelessly in your flattery.
Like you, I detest Lazy Writing and Floppy Language. Calling it a Creative Choice is largely bullshit unless the overall meaning, voice, and structure of the poem truly calls for it. If the poem is about a 13-year old texting her boyfriend, for example, then okay.
I used to look at the People of WalMart site, but it began to actively depress me. I have a hard enough time knowing that such people are around without having to wallow in it.
One of the benefits of Being Retired is that I'm no longer a victim of Reply To All on a regular basis. It's a cyber-nightmare, and Gen X and Gen Z rightly slam Boomers for this fault.
Driving pet peeves are a whole chapter in and of themselves. I've never experienced what you've described, but I think it's a result of the Impatience Of The American Driver as a whole. I can be very impatient as a driver, but I don't become an unsafe driver. I think your phrase "these days" is very telling. People's level of frustration is high and at the breaking point. It's the pandemic, it's the economy, it's the person in our White House and his constant chaos. I think--I hope--things cool down once he's gone and we have some solid leadership and feel secure.
I did know that!!! And I have seen more and more folks with masks under the nose. What's up with that?
ReplyDeleteVera--I'm so glad that you did. The mask under the nose thing is so irritating and irrational. I mean, THEY TAKE THE COVID TEST IN YOUR NOSE. WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU?!
DeleteOof - I am so totally the worst at replying to comments. I have excellent intentions, but it's like a veil is drawn over my countenance when I think about trying to keep up with it. (Seriously - I wonder if it's a disorder of some kind?) HOWEVER, I LOVE it when other people reply to my comments on their blogs, so I will try to make it a part of my routine. I mean, I only get, like, 8 comments a week. I should be able to manage that? I could have replied in the time that it took to write this novel.
ReplyDeleteAs far as my own pet peeves, then/than is a big one (what is so hard about that?), people over-explaining & going on & on about something (see my first paragraph for an example), the driving too slow in the left lane that was mentioned above... I think that's it for this moment. I might have to come back later if I think of more.
Bug--I am not lecturing you here, but I honestly think that if something is truly important to someone, they'll find a way to do it. I truly enjoy responding to my Commenters, so it isn't a chore for me, but daily journaling for maintaining my Zen is. I simply set aside a regular time for it, and I stick with it. I always feel better when and after I do it.
DeleteSadly, this is not true about vacuuming.
I wonder about over-explainers. Do they lack confidence, or are they egotistical? Interesting to think about.
I wonder sometimes, are we twins?
ReplyDeleteBut OH the TV thing - OK, so you don't have a television, it doesn't make you The Second Coming of Christ - get over it!
Bridget--I know we'd have a great time together. After the pandemic, let's try to make that happen.
DeleteThe TV Elitism is hilarious to me. Or the ones who say they only watch PBS. Ok, here's your sheepskin halo. Sigh.
I'm with you on the apostrophes to make words plural. OMG, who started that? It's the text version of fingernails on the chalkboard to me! Plus, "it's" as the possessive vs "its."
ReplyDeleteThe tv thing reminds me of blog whiners, the folks who periodically appear to comment on one of my blog posts to say, "hey, this isn't healthy?" Come on. Have you been following my blog or social media at all? If so, you'd know that not everything that I post is "healthy" and where were you when I did post healthy recipes? Also, the folks who yell at me because I don't label every recipe I share on social media ad nauseum. So they clicked and found out that a recipe was dairy free (they eat dairy, they don't want dairy free!) or a recipe contained nuts. I do often label recipes that way but doing so it also a deterrent to those who can eat everything except gluten. Please just accept my free recipes and see if they work for you. It takes all of 5 seconds. Truly.
Sadly, I'm guilty of the "Read more" on my site. It allows readers to see much more of what I'm offering when they go to my home page but I can get why you'd rather not see that.
Other pet peeves ...
Dog hair. As the dogs are not currently getting groomed, their hair is out of control. My efforts are simply not enough. Five minutes after vacuuming, it seems that there's hair everywhere again. Sigh. I'm going through more vacuum bags than I ever have before.
House and property maintenance. It never, ever ends. As soon as one issue is resolved, another one pops up. It's exhausting.
Group text messages for messages like "Happy Mother's Day!" and "Happy 4th of July!." There's a special place in hell for folks who send them. Yes, even folks I love dearly. Whatever compels one to do that? You simply cannot gracefully exit such messages. And the replies keep coming and coming.
I've had Yahoonski's experience or similar with insane people driving around me when I've stopped for the right turn on red. Staying at home eliminates that experience for the moment though.
Horrible comments. I really wish that most news sites would not even allow comments. The comments rarely contribute to anything except disgust and nausea.
Litter. I agree with others who have mentioned that one. It disgusts me so. We even have it on our street. What kind of person just chucks their trash out the window? Way too many it seems.
Garbage cans not being replaced correctly. New to us is garbage pickup. The folks who pick up the recycling early in the morning always leave the can in the middle at the end of my driveway. If I didn't move it when I take the dogs for their first walk, no delivery drivers or visitors would be able to get in my driveway.
The no mask folks and the folks who wear gloves and then chuck them. Wherever.
Shirley--Yahoo has stopped allowing comments on their site. This actually started a couple months ago. Whereas I used to be able to read Yahoo comments for comic relief, that section started to become downright nasty and scary. I was glad they nixed it.
DeleteDog hair. I will not even play the Dog Hair V. Cat Hair game. Pet hair is so disappointing. They do not even TRY to hold onto it. Marlowe's floats and Piper's embeds into everything. I am grateful I do not have a vacuum with bags, or I'd be screaming every day. Shirley, get a bagless, I beg of you.
Agree agree agree about Group Text Hell for stupid messages. How hard is it to copy/paste and send individuals?
(Also, I understand why you have the Read More option on your particular site. Makes sense to me. You get a pass. LOL)
That's really good to hear on Yahoo. I do believe that other sites continue to allow comments because they figure that while folks are visiting to leave or read comments that they're more likely to click on ads.
ReplyDeleteI've had bagless vacuums and felt like dirt and hair went everywhere went I emptied them. I considered dealing with those vacuums (and for the record, they were highly rated) to be far more taxing than dealing with bags. I got a Roomba to help out (and I do believe that it would really help a lot if I ran it once a day) but Mochi the Min Pin absolutely goes berserk when it's running. So it's not going to get used until Bo and Justine return to NYC.
Thanks for the pass, my dear. Whew.