# Little things that bug you **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187 "2015-04-21T14:10:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/121 "2015-04-25T23:49:17Z")
you know how there are some four lane roads, two in each direction, with no center turn lane? Where you make left turns from the left lane? Well, it bugs the shit out of me when I pull up to such an intersection, behind another car, at a red light, and they _wait until after the light turns green_ to put on their left turn signal. I swear to god it should be legal for me to… er… oh, I don’t know, do something I’d never actually do in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Spaulding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Miss\_Spaulding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Spaulding)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/122 "2015-04-26T02:04:11Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > So my husband and I joined a gym, called Planet Fitness, mainly because it’s open 24 hours, and on his way home from work (and I can bike there). It’s a national chain, but I don’t know if they use the same slogans nationally. > > Here, their slogan is that it’s the “Judgement Free Zone.” Spelled like that. It looks wrong to me. I know “judgement” is spelled like that in the UK, but it should be “judgment” in the US. There’s no reason for them to use a UK spelling. If it were a pub, or something, called “Flavour and Colour,” I’d get it, but it’s a gym, a pretty American gym. > > Also, “judgement free,” or even “judgment free” looks wrong. I think it should have a hyphen. Without a hyphen, I think it means the opposite of what they want it to mean. They want to say that there is no judging going on in the place, but without the hyphen, it looks like a place to do your judging freely, unfettered, as opposed to a place free of judgment. > > Like I said, it’s a little thing-- except it’s plastered everywhere, on every weight machine, treadmill, inch of empty wall space, everywhere you turn your head. And so it bugs me. A hyphen would be wrong and would look really weird. But I do agree that the spelling is wrong, and that alone would make me cancel my membership. …Yes, I am literally that much of a grammar Nazi. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/123 "2015-04-26T09:53:54Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > People who don’t know the difference between “its” and “it’s”. Coming a bit late to this thread – I’m clear on the difference between these; but have some sympathy for those who are not. Everybody has a blind spot or two, of some kind; and this particular thing has perverse and confusing traits. The possessive is very frequently indicated by apostrophe plus s; but here, it isn’t, and the apostrophe-s serves another purpose. > [@](#): > > People who write “no one” as one word. This annoys me, especially when it begins a sentence and has a capital n (“Who is this Mr. Noone? What does he want?”). Also, for me, it has to be hyphenated (“no-one”). I’ll admit that this is a personal peeve, not fair or rational. It’s tied up with my having a big problem with Jane Austen. I accept in principle that – for all the very telling reasons which people give – she wrote wonderful stuff; but (not for want of trying) I find her work maddening and unreadable – have never got many pages into any of her novels. I even (fully knowing my foolishness and unfairness here) get annoyed with her – perfectly correct 200 years ago – use of English: for instance, her writing “some body” and “any body”. Makes me want to scream, “It’s ‘somebody’, you stupid Georgian biddy !” “No one” (without hyphen) thus registers with me as “Austen-speak”, and therefore off-pissing. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/124 "2015-04-26T14:50:24Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > … I posted about that elsewhere. What is she imagining a “doggy dog” world is? What image does that put in her head that it aptly describes a highly pressurized and competitive environment? … I fully agree that “doggie-dog world” is utterly wrong. But speaking for the defense: We already have legit phrases like “It’s a dog’s life” properly meaning a life of endless toil, second-class (at best) citizenship, unpalatable food, and sleeping outdoors in the rain. So a doggie-dog world is one where most people live dogs’ lives. Either that or they’re just plain stupid. Hmmm. You’re probably right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/125 "2015-04-27T19:29:58Z")
> [@Miss\_Spaulding](#): > > A hyphen would be wrong and would look really weird. But I do agree that the spelling is wrong, and that alone would make me cancel my membership. …Yes, I am literally that much of a grammar Nazi. 😕 A hyphen would be correct. Hyphens connect multiword adjectives like “judgment-free”. Fat-free ice cream Thirty-year-old woman Past-due library book ---
**Author:** ![desertmonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@desertmonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desertmonk)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/126 "2015-04-27T20:19:00Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > you know how there are some four lane roads, two in each direction, with no center turn lane? Where you make left turns from the left lane? Well, it bugs the shit out of me when I pull up to such an intersection, behind another car, at a red light, and they _wait until after the light turns green_ to put on their left turn signal. > > I swear to god it should be legal for me to… er… oh, I don’t know, do something I’d never actually do in real life. I won’t get behind cars in the left lane at a couple places in my town because of this. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/127 "2015-04-28T04:52:18Z")
Know what? Guess what? Damn, I hate when people start off a sentence with that. I’m not interested in a damn guessing game. Just tell me ok. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/128 "2015-04-28T05:08:26Z")
Assuming you mean “little” in the scheme of things, and not actual physical size: Those dumb-ass fake trolleys you see in tourist areas, which are really just buses that run on diesel or gas, tarted up to look like San Francisco cable cars. It’s a good look on actual cable cars, but not elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/129 "2015-04-28T18:35:00Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > you know how there are some four lane roads, two in each direction, with no center turn lane? Where you make left turns from the left lane? Well, it bugs the shit out of me when I pull up to such an intersection, behind another car, at a red light, and they _wait until after the light turns green_ to put on their left turn signal. > > I swear to god it should be legal for me to… er… oh, I don’t know, do something I’d never actually do in real life. That and when there \*is \*a left turn lane they wait until they’re in the left turn lane to signal. My sister does that but you can’t tell her \*anything \*so I keep my mouth shut. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/130 "2015-04-29T01:15:38Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > … > Guess what? > > Damn, I hate when people start off a sentence with that. I’m not interested in a damn guessing game. Just tell me ok. Damn, I hate when people end off a sentence with “ok”. It’s totally unnecessary and completely ungrammatical. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/131 "2015-04-29T01:48:18Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Know what? > > Guess what? > > Damn, I hate when people start off a sentence with that. I’m not interested in a damn guessing game. Just tell me ok. You presumably already know this, because I find it hard to believe that someone wouldn’t, but for the benefit of any aliens listening: You’re not actually supposed to guess. You’re supposed to say “What?”, and then they tell you. It’s just to initiate the conversation and get your attention. You can’t go running into a room and blurt out “I’m getting married!”, “My cat died!” or “My grandma has actually been a man this whole time!” without first having someone’s attention. Or, well, you could, but that would get a whole lot more annoying than a “guess what?” now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/132 "2015-04-29T01:56:54Z")
(Too late for edit: ) Just to be clear, though, they are allowed only the initial “guess what”. If they, instead of telling you, then proceed to go “No, really, guess!”, then you’re fully entitled to punch them in the face, because that is indeed the most mothercopulating annoying thing in the world. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/133 "2015-04-29T03:15:14Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > You presumably already know this, because I find it hard to believe that someone wouldn’t, but for the benefit of any aliens listening: You’re not actually supposed to guess. You’re supposed to say “What?”, and then they tell you. I thought the answer was “You’re pregnant?”, no matter who is asking. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/134 "2015-04-29T07:22:35Z")
My current peeve: The apocalypse. The word “apocalypse” means “revelation”. It doesn’t mean “the end of the world”. The biblical apocalypse just happens to be a revelation about the end of the world. If you mean the end times, just say “end times”. And don’t give me semantic drift. It’s not that. It’s just someone getting something wrong because they didn’t speak Greek. Now that this is cleared up, I trust that everyone in the world will get this right from now on. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Teach-me-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@Teach-me-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach-me-not)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/135 "2015-04-29T11:17:26Z")
^ That’s an interesting apocalypse, thanks :). ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/136 "2015-04-29T11:40:57Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > People that step out of the elevator then stop and have a conversation. Move the f#(k over! Everyone else has places to be! Related: people who are in such a hurry that they practically run people over to get on the elevator before everyone has gotten off. There are RULES, people! ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/137 "2015-04-29T11:42:41Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I fully agree that “doggie-dog world” is utterly wrong. > > But speaking for the defense: > > We already have legit phrases like “It’s a dog’s life” properly meaning a life of endless toil, second-class (at best) citizenship, unpalatable food, and sleeping outdoors in the rain. So a doggie-dog world is one where most people live dogs’ lives. > > Either that or they’re just plain stupid. > > Hmmm. You’re probably right. 🙂 I’ve seen more commercials for the show. I vote for “just plain stupid” with a side of “vapid” and “shallow”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/138 "2015-04-29T12:45:12Z")
I haven’t heard “doggie-dog world,” but in a similar vein, something that annoys me is “for all intensive purposes.” For all intents and purposes, that’s incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/139 "2015-04-29T12:57:55Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > My current peeve: The apocalypse. “Zombie end times” just doesn’t come trippingly off the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187/140 "2015-04-29T14:25:39Z")
Re: an earlier issue someone mentioned about people who stop just beyond a door I have a confession to make in this regard. I, too, hate people who step just beyond some sort of choke point (elevator, escalator, hallway, whatever) and stop to chat/check a map/whatever. My dogs do that. One would assume that people are smarter than dogs. At least I’m always told so when I risk making comparisons between people and animals. So anyway, when in packs dogs tend to jostle each other and just shove through when they want to. They don’t mind it unless someone gets their toes stepped on. I’ve gotten into the habit of pushing my way through my little pack when they stop in a doorway, or gently pushing their little asses forward so I can come in (or out). The confession is that this habit is starting to break though when I encounter people doing the same thing in that I will push my way through while tossing an “excuse me” over my shoulder and continuing on without worrying about their reaction. I know, in human society that’s rude. But darn it, so is blocking everyone else’s path! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-bug-you/718187.md?page=8)