# Any whistlers here? Anyone here who'd like to STRANGLE them? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 9, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310 "2016-12-09T22:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/1 "2016-12-09T22:05:36Z")
> **[I hate people who whistle | Is It Normal? | isitnormal.com](https://www.isitnormal.com/post/i-hate-people-who-whistle-38895)** > > It really annoys me when people whistle. I find it to be loud, obnoxious and rude. > > Is this normal? Do other people enjoy it as music? I just can't understand it! Ok now… I’m a whistler. I’m a gardener. And, literally, I whistle as I work. Tunes like: Roxy Roller Scotland the Brave Wonderful Tonight 1812 Cannonization cannons bit Whiter Shade of Pale Elenore Peg (yes, **Scabpicker** …Peg) New Years Day/Mysterious Ways themes from “Way We Were”, “Room 222”, “Magnificent 7”, “The Waltons”, “Bob Newhart Show”, “Pink Panther”, “Quincy” (the last one being super shitty, hence extra enjoyable) particularly like Bohemian Rhapsody for the challenge and Dancing Days for the Page/Plant call and response a Stevie Wonder number whose title escapes me but starts off literally singing, phonetically: na na na, na, na, na, na na na, na, NAA, na… (that “NAA” going slightly higher) Baba O’Reilly Whip It Cars side 2 of Abbey Road Chopin’s third etude shitload of Scott Joplin Surfer Girl Men of Harlich Millenium She’s Leaving Home Ravel’s Bolero Who Loves the Sun Land of Hope and Glory Yummy Yummy Yummy I’ve Got Love I My Tummy Sitting On the Dock of the Bay Sweet Leaf/Changes Eine kleine Nachtmusik Riders on the Storm/People Are Strange Maggie Mae Bus Stop/I Breathe the Air That I Breathe Magic Man Black Magic Woman Just What I Needed (in its entirety - maybe my fave) Sugar, Sugar Good Morning, Starshine Pick Up The Pieces and a _WHOLE_ slew more… These are not tunes I particularly covet - I certainly wouldn’t throw them onto an ipod, especially considering I don’t own one - they’re just catchy earworms that I can exorcise out of my noggin only by giving vent by whistling. I also wouldn’t do this in a confined office space. One time, waiting in emergency, the doctor decided to chat with the receptionist about the holidays he just got back from, instead of attending to me, like, three feet away, so after _several_ unbelievable minutes of this, I started whistling, _really loud_, “Jingle Balls” (it was in summer). He quickly wrapped up his vacay recap, and this was the only time I intentionally tried to whistle someone into a quivering mass of gelatinous inferiority and shame. So then…come at me, then, all you whistle haters… Come at me with me your pitchforks!!! Hey and what’s really worse is that whistlers bug _me_, (except maybe if they’re _at least_ hitting the notes of something readily identifiable), so, I’m being both the hypocritical cause _and_ victim of this. Not helping at all, am I? So yeah, pile on, pillock me, throw at me what ya got - I’ll be like De Niro in that scene from Cape Fear. Ha! LET’S FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!..I’LL FUCK ANYTHING THAT MOOOOOOOOOVES, A-HEH-HEH-HEH!!!\* \*ok maybe different flick - just trying to create ambiance and mood. regards, Eddie The Horrible ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/2 "2016-12-09T22:15:10Z")
Whistling is like a lot of other things: it has its place. As it has a proper place, it also has improper places, like at work. People who whistle in the presense of others at work are trying to say something. They’re trying to say: “Look at me, I’m an asshole.” ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/3 "2016-12-09T22:28:41Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Whistling is like a lot of other things: it has its place. As it has a proper place, it also has improper places, like at work. People who whistle in the presense of others at work are trying to say something. They’re trying to say: “Look at me, I’m an asshole.” With me it’s more like a case of “holy fuck my command of melody is mind-blowing as well as endearing”. (As birds alight on my shoulder.) But yeah in an office it’s just a little bit too intimate for that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/4 "2016-12-09T22:40:10Z")
Or a loud machine shop. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/5 "2016-12-09T22:41:36Z")
My mom HATES it, and assumes everyone else does. So derides me for humming/whistling/singing/imitating Mark Knopfler’s guitarwork as I do chores. (I’m not sure I can help it… I have music in my head all the time and it just leaks out.) After years of this my wife casually mentioned “It’s handy that you whistle. If I need you, I can always tell where you are.” In your un-musical FACE, mom! ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/6 "2016-12-09T22:49:37Z")
> [@digs](#): > > (I’m not sure I can help it… I have music in my head all the time and it just leaks out.) That. Fucking constantly. Hard to shut it out. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/7 "2016-12-09T23:13:38Z")
Well, DON’T! Music is wonderful. I just have to learn not to do it at work… so far, only a slip or two a week. And there is this one stairwell with great acoustics where I belt out Broadway tunes. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2016, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/8 "2016-12-09T23:25:11Z")
I am a master whistler: no really. There’s a guy at work who hums or whistles constantly. I share an office space with him now, but haven’t always. Thankfully he does not whistle at his desk, but he cannot walk down the hall without whistling, but here’s the worst part: he doesn’t whistle a tune. It’s just a loud, random, attack of absolute random nonsense. Now THAT is annoying as shit, especially when I’m stressed and he’s whistling like a fucking songbird looking to mate. Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/9 "2016-12-10T00:06:55Z")
> [@digs](#): > > And there is this one stairwell with great acoustics… At one of my apartment buildings the front entrance area is a two-story ‘soft story’ set-up, so it’s like this big, lofty, cavernous pseudo-amphitheatre with acoustics that project my whistling outwards with haunting clarity and fullness. Sublime.🆒😛 > [@digs](#): > > Broadway tunes. _On Broadway_, which I guess isn’t _technically_ a Broadway tune because it’s a recording and not from a Broadway musical, is a go-to for me, along with _Climb Every Mountain_ and _Old Man River_. No, I wont do _Tomorrow_ - that one would feel demonstrably sucky to whistle. > [@Leaffan](#): > > …here’s the worst part: he doesn’t whistle a tune. It’s just a loud, random, attack of absolute random nonsense. Thank-you. So can we all agree, then, that random, completely tuneless whistling is more intolerable than whistling that has at least _some_ semblance of carrying a melody, even if one can’t immediately recognize the tune? And also if the whistling is done in a soft, easy pitch…low in volume…Perry Como-ish? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/10 "2016-12-10T00:32:08Z")
I could croon you to sleep with my Billy Joel, “The Stranger” intro, or John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.” Sent from my adequate mobile device using Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/11 "2016-12-10T02:04:05Z")
Wish I could whistle. Would be great to hail a cab. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/12 "2016-12-10T02:13:53Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Whistling is like a lot of other things: it has its place. Its place is in the bowels of hell. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/13 "2016-12-10T02:52:50Z")
I often whistle past graveyards. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/14 "2016-12-10T02:57:55Z")
Years ago I was. Got into a bit of trouble. Union saved me. I helped save a life and probably a few more by getting a problem addressed, so I don’t regret the angst I went through over several weeks. Local paper eventually editorialized about my situation and embarrassed the parties that be. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/15 "2016-12-10T03:05:09Z")
It’s like knuckle cracking. You know that not everyone is going to enjoy the noises coming from your body. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/16 "2016-12-10T03:24:38Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > he’s whistling like a fucking songbird looking to mate. Aw man, that really is a cardinal sin. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/17 "2016-12-10T03:33:31Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > Wish I could whistle. > > Would be great to hail a cab. But for hailing a cab, aren’t you supposed to do that annoying multiple-fingers-in-mouth type of whistle that’s extremely loud and piercing? Also used for hailing pets and shit. I can’t do that type of whistle, myself, which for some incredibly retarded reason makes me feel like I have some kind of shortcoming. Like, it makes me feel less virile, or something. There’s quite the zippy whistle @ 4:07 of _Benny and the Jets_[https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=benny+and+rhe+jets](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=benny+and+rhe+jets) > [@wolfpup](#): > > Its place is in the bowels of hell. :eek: You crappy scheisekopf\*!!! \*Unfortunately my keyboard lacks that weird sorta B-looking German letter that needs to go where the second “s” is. > [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > Years ago I was. Got into a bit of trouble. Union saved me. I helped save a life and probably a few more by getting a problem addressed, so I don’t regret the angst I went through over several weeks. > > Local paper eventually editorialized about my situation and embarrassed the parties that be. ok I’m trying to wrap my head around this one, and conclude that possibly this post should be elsewhere. Unless, that is, this union kerfuffle arose from you whistling around them in the first place. > [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > It’s like knuckle cracking. You know that not everyone is going to enjoy the noises coming from your body. Gotta say - also a knucklecracker. Toes too. Totally tympanic membrane-destroying, so I make double extra sure nobody’s around. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/18 "2016-12-10T04:06:46Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > People who whistle in the presense of others at work are trying to say something. They’re trying to say: “Look at me, I’m an asshole.” I never got a look at today’s work-whistler, but the same motivation seemed to be in play. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/19 "2016-12-10T04:44:10Z")
Whistling to a captive audience is the aural equivalent to lighting a big stinky cigar in the company of non-smokers. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310/20 "2016-12-10T04:54:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I never got a look at today’s work-whistler, but the same motivation seemed to be in play. You speak of motivation, yet didn’t see him/her - how do you know the whistler wasn’t, say, at gun-point to continue on, or maybe the whistler _felt_ the compassionate wherewithall to gratify those around him/her with dulcet bilabial offerings? Maybe thinking - ok - I _wonder_ if **Jackmannii** might be in for a little…Deep Purple?..Valdy?..Bananarama? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-whistlers-here-anyone-here-whod-like-to-strangle-them/774310.md?page=2)