# Little things that irritate in a big way - Cafe edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2011, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318 "2011-01-12T06:28:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/41 "2011-01-14T02:39:36Z")
Any movie made in a city I have lived in. From “The Friends of Eddie Coyle” to “Boondock Saints”, it just drives me crazy when I see something like someone walk out of a triple decker in Dorchester and walk up a street in Southie. I do not know how people in LA can watch movies - I couldn’t when I lived there. BTW. The Fighter - the opening scene with the brothers walking down the street was all on one street, but Top Donuts doesn’t have that many tables in it. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/42 "2011-01-14T02:52:36Z")
This was mentioned in another thread, but it bears repeating: the people crunching in the Kit-Kat commercial. I grab the remote as soon as that one comes on! Is that crunching sound appetizing to ANYONE?? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/43 "2011-01-14T04:55:32Z")
Me too also with the clapping and chanting “Stephen, Stephen. . .” Even more annoying are the 20-something assholes in the audience who have to have the last “woo-woo” or scream so they can go home and watch their DVR recording to hear themselves and tell their friends alllll about what a real cool person they are. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/44 "2011-01-14T11:12:55Z")
Any FakeOS stuff. Especially if the entire screen gets taken over for a small error message. IP addresses with numbers over 255 (and yes, I know that an IP address wouldn’t have that either, but you never know they _may_ have a subnet mask up there. I’m talking 514.479.367.964 and stuff). Yes, I know you are trying to do the 555 telephone thing so you haven’t got someone’s actual IP address up there, but it still irritates the tits off of me. ---
**Author:** ![Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/45 "2011-01-14T12:21:51Z")
I was excited to watch the new Sherlock Holmes on BBC last year. Until Martin Freeman walked past ringing phones in Brixton. Not one, but \*two \*of the ringing phones were coming from old BT red phone boxes. HAHAHAHAHAHA As if! I couldn’t take the rest of the programme seriously. If they wanted to show a part of London where it’s all twee with old phone boxes, don’t go to Brixton. FFS. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/46 "2011-01-14T21:19:56Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > That, and when the hero is out of bullets, the gun is now worthless and he tosses it aside. That, and when somebody fires a gun (especially several times) and then is coerced to hand it over to a cop…who grabs it by the barrel. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/47 "2011-01-14T21:28:55Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Credit card commercials where they scan the card into the machine so it appears right side up to face the camera. NO card has the magnetic strip on the friggin’ bottom. This. > [@Kolga](#): > > I get occasionally over-the-top irate about obviously English language errors in media, but the only one that’s coming to mind at the moment is a scene from “Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets.” Snape is yelling at Ron and Harry about being seen in the flying car on the way to Hogwarts, and he says: > > “You. Were. Seen. By no less than less than SEVEN muggles!” > > And every single time, I yell “it’s fewer! FEWER! No FEWER than seven muggles! GGGAAAAHHHHH!” and collapse in a twitching heap. I seem to be catching this more and more. There’s a current ad on TV that says something about how their product leaves less germs. I can’t hear it without yelling FEWER! ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/48 "2011-01-14T22:19:51Z")
Yeah, that fewer/less thing has been bugging the shit out of me for a year or two. It would appear that fewer has been outright banned from all commercials, so okay, don’t alienate the unwashed masses by using your high-falutin’ grammar. I could deal with that. But it’s taking over the entire language. A couple days ago on PTI – a sports talk show – at one point Tony Kornheiser said “less” instead of “fewer” and it almost drove me over the edge. Part of his schtick on the show is to brag about how he’s an English major instead of a Journalism major. They introduced a segment “What’s the word?” to ostensibly show off his fancy vocabulary. And yet he incorrectly used “less” where it should have been “fewer.” Gaaaaaahhh!!! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/49 "2011-01-14T22:25:59Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Yeah, that fewer/less thing has been bugging the shit out of me for a year or two. It would appear that fewer has been outright banned from all commercials, so okay, don’t alienate the unwashed masses by using your high-falutin’ grammar. I could deal with that. > > But it’s taking over the entire language. A couple days ago on PTI – a sports talk show – at one point Tony Kornheiser said “less” instead of “fewer” and it almost drove me over the edge. Part of his schtick on the show is to brag about how he’s an English major instead of a Journalism major. They introduced a segment “What’s the word?” to ostensibly show off his fancy vocabulary. And yet he incorrectly used “less” where it should have been “fewer.” Gaaaaaahhh!!! Happy to see that I’m not alone in this pet peeve. I shout “FEWER!!!” at newscasters, characters in series, commercials, you name it. It’s childish and pointless, really. One day I’ll blurt it out in a movie theater and be pelted by half-eaten Ju-Jubees. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/50 "2011-01-14T23:02:45Z")
Yep! The Kit Kat crunchers! Also, the Steak n’ Shake hat and the DQ lips! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/51 "2011-01-15T02:30:44Z")
OMIGOD- I had no idea so many people were bothered by the fewer thing… this is so gratifying. All over the world, people are yelling “FEWER!!” at their TV sets. I’m loving it. MY PEEPS!! Does anyone hate the Jack in the Box ping pong head as much as I do? I know he’s been around for years and I have hated him all those years. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/52 "2011-01-15T02:33:06Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Ok > > I’ll > > Try > > It. Just to follow-up… I’m looking at this on my computer now and not my Blackberry and clearly the spacing did come out. Okay. No more periods between paragraphs. Returning you to the regularly scheduled program… ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/53 "2011-01-15T02:35:28Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > And every single time, I yell “it’s fewer! FEWER! No FEWER than seven muggles! GGGAAAAHHHHH!” and collapse in a twitching heap.. Please don’t continue ON (GRRR!) … or I’ll have to start in… less semen, fewer sperm, less food, fewer groceries, less love., fewer kisses, less meat, fewer sandwiches, less land, fewer crops, less rain, fewer raindrops, less wool, fewer sweaters… ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/54 "2011-01-15T03:01:24Z")
I just gritted my teeth through [this entire thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=592723). Here is every single (unattributed) use of both fewer and less in that thread: “fewer games” “less discrete strategic points” “far less cases” “less racist” “less than accurate” “less players” “less [players] on a team” “a lot less parity back then and a lot less teams” Of the 9 uses of fewer/less in the thread, 5 were incorrect. We’re rapidly moving to where less will become correct through widespread usage, since that’s how language evolves. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/55 "2011-01-15T03:03:38Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > We’re rapidly moving to where less will become correct through widespread usage, since that’s how language evolves. Meh. I could care fewer. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/56 "2011-01-15T03:18:27Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Meh. I could care fewer. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/57 "2011-01-15T04:17:44Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > I know, right? Dreadful. That look that says _everyone_ who lives in the home (including their rugged, good-looking husband, who, presumably was an _adult_ when they married) is completely clueless and incompetent! Focus group testing shows that this image plays very well with the wives/mothers the commercials are aimed at (who make most of the brand choices in shopping). Apparently a lot of women _like_ to feel that they’re the only competent person in the household. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/58 "2011-01-15T05:08:33Z")
I can’t put into words how much I despise the…wannabe DJs, I guess?..who post songs on file-sharing programs, but at some parts of the songs, sometimes for quite a while, they talk/shout over the song at a WAY higher volume, saying things like “wooo! [artist]!!! wooo!!!” What is the point of that??? I swear it’s almost enough to make me want to stop stealing music. Almost. > [@norinew](#): > > Shows geared towards 'tweens with _Unlimited Screaming/Shrieking_. Gah. I have a daughter who is 11. She likes shows like _iCarly_, _Victorious_, and, more recently _House of Anubis_ (Harry Potter rip-off, anyone?). Anyway, _most_ of the shows she likes to watch feature _waaaaaaay_ too much shrieking/screaming, especially by teenage girls. Just sets my teeth on edge. > (Although, aside from the screaming, I find iCarly to be fairly clever and watchable, for a kids show). My daughter is almost 11, and I feel your pain. However, you didn’t mention the absolute worst of those shows: That’s So Raven. I don’t think they show the old episodes anymore, and thankfully my daughter doesn’t like it anymore anyway, but for a while she loved that show. They used to even have some commercial on the Disney Channel that featured a montage of nothing but screaming clips from shows. I’m not exaggerating, that’s exactly what it was. My daughter knew she better mute the TV REAL quick when that came on. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/59 "2011-01-15T09:22:08Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I can’t put into words how much I despise the…wannabe DJs, I guess?..who post songs on file-sharing programs, but at some parts of the songs, sometimes for quite a while, they talk/shout over the song at a WAY higher volume, saying things like “wooo! [artist]!!! wooo!!!” What is the point of that??? [Toasting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deejaying)? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/60 "2011-01-15T10:45:47Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > [Toasting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deejaying)? I don’t know, wouldn’t that be something that real DJs do? I mean, I guess it doesn’t make much difference and it can be annoying either way (one reason I don’t listen to the radio…other than the incessant ads and the playlist of like 4 songs), but I’m talking about these random people who have nothing to do with anything, but still have some inexplicable need to insert themselves into a song before posting it on Limewire. Radio DJs are irritating too, but they’re like a cool breeze next to some of these idiots. At least the radio DJs were actually hired by somebody to annoyingly talk over the music. It’s like the difference between watching commercials on regular TV, and downloading TV shows and finding that some asshole decided to insert his own incredibly loud, obnoxious, amateur commercial. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318.md?page=4)