another occasional i-whistle-when-i’m-happy-person here. ducks and stays crouched low .
I did not know it was so irritating to others! I never mind it when other people whistle. Usually they are just passing by so you only catch a whiff-of-whistle, so to speak. I just think: "Ah, there goes a happy person ".
Whistle haters, please tell me what is so irritating about it?
How is it different from softly singing of humming?
Yes, oh my god, yes !
The problem is that it’s fun. I think it’s only acceptible in a very specific set of circumstances:
First, it must NEVER be in an enclosed space, like a transit vehicle or an office.
After that, it’s okay if no one is around or if you are walking down the street and thus people are only subjected to it for a moment or two.
If you are very, very good at it the rules are slightly different, but I think transit vehicles and offices are still a no-no.
[hijak]Once I was coming home on a crowded all-night bus and there was a man who whistled for about half an hour, driving everyone mental. He was also swaying a bit and looking queasy. Halfway home the whistling guy (who had been mocked and derided for the whole journey) stopped whistling (much to the joy of everyone on the bus), swayed a bit too far forward and puked all over the bus. We all had to disembark and wait for a new, puke-free bus to come pick us up. It seems that he was whistling to try to prevent the puking … [/hijak]
I am occasionally exposed to the tuneless whistling plumber. It only happens when I’m doing work for a particular home builder and he isn’t always in the house at the same time as me. I have learned to laugh rather than let it drive me insane. It is little bit funny though because he whistles really loud and it is occasionally interupted by an even louder curse word.
Whistle, whistle, WHISTLE, whistle, FUCK ! Whistle, whistle, WHISTLE, whistle, SONOFABITCH ! Whistle, whistle, WHISTLE, whistle, and so on.
HATE it. Hate it very much. Morons.
It isn’t any different than softly singing or humming, both of which I find just as annoying and distracting. What’s irritating about it is that it’s usually an intrusive sound. It’s a sound I don’t want to hear but yet cannot get away from.
I take a class with a girl who will whistle one piercing note as soon as it gets deadly silent. Drives me batty.
Many, many years ago, my high school used to have assemblies for no particular reason other than someone needed an audience.
One special assembly was a live concert by an old, blind man whose claim to fame was that he was the guy who whistled the original theme to The Andy Griffith Show. His wife led him on the stage and his act consisted of standing there and whistling about 15 songs - leading up to the big theme song finale.
I remember seeing my friends’ faces, in stunned silence, at what perhaps was the lamest concert ever foisted upon us.
Whistling does not bother me.
I’d like to share a slight hijack: My husband only whistles when he is guilty about something and feigning nonchalance. It’s his “tell.” Whenever I hear him whistling I think to myself, “Now what’s he gone and done?” 
Wow. I think he has a somewhat challenged brother living at my grocery store (and possibly, hardygrrl will recognize the person to whom I am referring.) The guy is nice as can be, but I don’t think he actually talks, like conversing. He does whistle and we’re not talking a tuneless two-noter. We’re talking amazingly impressive BIRD CALLS. I have heard him speak, but always in a cartoon or other TV personality voice, and he repeats lines he’s heard on TV (I recognized a few.) As interesting as I find him to be, I have also noted that he is NEVER silent, and whenever I already have a headache, I avoid the line he’s working in.
As far as other whistlers, I don’t mind if you’re walking down the street whistling to yourself. But as cowgirl said, it’s not cool when you’re a captive audience.
That’s the problem with women skiing nude… the damn whistling!
When I was much younger, like just out of school, I worked for a while at a small (10-12 guys) machine shop for carbide thread cutting tools. The machines kept the noise level up, but it wasn’t bad.
This guy starts whistling. Badly. And loud enough to be heard over the hum of the machines. So, I start whistling a different tune. Badly. Within a minute or so, everybody in the shop was badly whistling a different tune. The bosses door FLINGS open… “STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!” screamed our silly boss. So, we all stopped.
15 minutes later, this guy starts whistling…
AmishBlue: If it drives you crazy when someone else whistles, why then do you sometimes do it yourself? I’m not at all trying to pick on you but I’m honestly curious.
Floater: Ugh…that’s horrible. If I were you I would have run away with the map and left him to fend by himself. 
Anamorphic: Does your meat guy also work in the produce deparment? Because I too have one and have been half tempted to call in and have someone stop him. Every single time I just want to get away from the tomatoes as quickly as possible.
Ashkicker: So if someone asks you to stop because it’s annoying do you stop just at the moment they ask or do you cease to whistle around that person indefinitely?
If I know they are annoyed by whistling, I respect them enough not to do it around them again.
I was watching a television programme called Room 101, and a guy on their stated he hated Whistling, it reminded him of a programme where builders whoud go’
<whistle> I’m not gay cause I’m keeping busy,
<whistle> I’m not cheking that guys packet, cause I’m whistling.
<whistle> I’m doing thr remainder of my work, I’m not gay, no , no
I hate whistling it’s like cat claws through your mind.
Recently my roommate and I took a pretty long car trip. We listened to a lot of CDs. During some of the CDs, we both sang our hearts out. During others, we chatted. During some, I sat there, steam shooting out of my eyeballs, while she whistled along to the songs.
Could there be a ruder thing to do? But what could I say? If I mentioned it, it would undoubtedly cause slight awkwardness in the car, and this was during the 2nd hour of a 6 hour trip, which would be followed by a whole weekend, and then another 6 hour trip back. I just boiled silently. How can I tell her that the whistling is the most annoying thing I’ve ever heard, and that if she doesn’t stop I might punch her in the nose? We’re usually very good about this type of discussion, but this one seems difficult.