# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/101 "2011-01-17T20:56:02Z")
No, the commercials accurately reflect the show. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/102 "2011-01-17T21:27:14Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Siren noises in advertisements played on the radio. These should be banned, and are actually one of the reasons I listen to the NPR station so much. This drives me nuts, too. Sirens, car honing, cell phone ring tone, and screeching-tires-crumpling-fender sound effects on the radio all drive me nuts. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I’m annoyed by sloppy gun and rifle use in movies and TV shows, especially from characters that are or were in the military and should know better than to run around with a finger curled around the trigger of a weapon set to full auto. > [@Morbo](#): > > That, and when the hero is out of bullets, the gun is now worthless and he tosses it aside. > [@Infovore](#): > > 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. Worse than that, is someone who “racks” their shotgun menacingly. WTF? You don’t need that shell? Or did you not have one in the chamber before you began pointing it at someone? Then there’s the semi-automatic click. Someone is shooting a semi-auto firearm (one pull of the trigger = 1 bullet fired). They empty the magazine and the slide locks open. Yet they continue to go “click-click-click” like they have a damned revolver. And finally, there’s the close-quarters gun fight, in which the participants walk out and talk normally, instead of going, “WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR A DAMNED THING! I THINK I MAY HAVE SUFFERED PERMANENT HEARING LOSS DUE TO EXTREMELY LOUD GUNFIRE IN AN ENCLOSED SPACE!” Used to good effect in _The Fugitive_ movie with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, and in _Snatch_. ---
**Author:** ![Raskolnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac8455/32.png) [@Raskolnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raskolnikov)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/103 "2011-01-17T23:33:34Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Something that annoys me about documentaries on the History Channel or on PBS is the 101-level material that has to be slogged through. It sounds like I’m bragging, but you know what I mean: there’s a topic you’ve always been interested in, and know a bit more than the average person about, so when “niche” television grants it a moment you’ll want to look in. You just like being in the milieu of the topic, and there’s a chance that they’ll hit on some aspect of it that you’re not familiar with so you’ll have something to go look up on your own later. > > But the 101-level stuff always triumphs. Let’s say there’s an obscure documentary about Greece’s war with Bulgaria in WWI, or Texas’s invasion of Arizona in the Civil War. Sounds interesting and not subject matter already done to death. But the first thirty percent of the show is back-story about Archduke Franz Ferdinand or Fort Sumter. I was watching the movie Invictus about nelson mandela and the South African Rugby team and at least half the movie was a replay and rehashing of the entire events leading up to it. I had the feeling that it was made for people who had no idea who nelson mandela was, or knew who rooted for which team or knew anything about aparteid at all. Or even people who knew South Africa was different from southern Africa. > [@EllisDee](#): > > Aren’t these MB irritations, as opposed to CS irritations? I took this thread to mean things that bug you in movies, tv, music and books. > > If we’re going to include MB irritations, I cannot stand uber-pretentious pluralizations. “Fora” instead of “forums” makes me want to rip somebody’s teeth out with pliers. “Penii” is up there as well, but thankfully the number of times this comes up is much lower. > > The worst sin of all is somebody using “fora” when the _singular_ form is called for. I want to burn their entire families alive. in the soccer community it’s very common to refer to multiple stadiums as “stadia”, both are correct but one makes you sound pretentious. I also hate when people mention something and then use the word “said” to refer back to “said item” , seriously, you’re not a lawyer - just stop it. You don’t sound more edjumaticated that anybody else. > [@Sycorax](#): > > I have to go along with the OP – the opening of certain shows with a live audience. > I DVR all our shows so we can fast forward through the commercials, and I really appreciate the “mute” button. Agreed about The Daily Show audience – I either mute or ff until the camera homes in on Jon. The worst is The View. Clapping, cheering, screaming, in addition to…a standing ovation?? Oh please, four to five women who talk over and interrupt each other and their guests, and they get a standing ovation? And when a guest comes out, more time is taken while he/she clasps hands, hugs, and kisses everyone (while the audience claps and screams). what’s with the standing ovation \*every single guest \*on the Tonight show gets? If everyone gets a standing ovation there’s nothing special about it. It’s lost its meaning. They even pan out with a wide angle shot to show that every guest gets a standing ovation. Is this seriously supposed to make the show seem more exciting because the guest is getting a standing ovation? ---
**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 17, 2011, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/104 "2011-01-17T23:49:30Z")
> [@Raskolnikov](#): > > in the soccer community it’s very common to refer to multiple stadiums as “stadia”, both are correct but one makes you sound pretentious. Yep, I’ve seen that on occasion. Also virii. To paraphrase Daniel Tosh, whose show is as awesome as his commercials during the Daily Show: “I need a nerd to explain to me why someone would write virii or fora. And I’ll explain to them what a vagina feels like.” ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/105 "2011-01-18T00:31:24Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Add to the list “octopi” and “platypi”. So fvcking wrong. > It should be “octopodes” and “platypodes”. And “penii” should be “penes”. Not a matter of pretension, but a bizarrely common error I have noticed is to use “phenomena” as the singular and “phenomenon” as the plural. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/106 "2011-01-18T01:54:09Z")
> [@](#): > > To paraphrase Daniel Tosh, whose show is as awesome as his commercials during the Daily Show: If you can watch this [commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NqZ1Dcd820&feature=related) and not want to blow up something, you’re a better person than I am. ---
**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 18, 2011, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/107 "2011-01-18T02:08:59Z")
The word “awesome.” Enough! Also describing something as “amazing” without further qualification. That’s like saying something is “very-” I always want to ask (and often DO ask IRL, much to the annoyance of the speaker), “amazingly good or amazingly bad”? Amazing just denotes an extreme of something, but by itself it doesn’t say in what direction. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/108 "2011-01-18T05:53:51Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > And “penii” should be “penes”.l. Nope. Penises. And it’s octopuses and platypuses. There are a few old german/saxon based words that have a odd plural, such as Mouse/mice, but even they are (thankfully) starting to go away. “Mouses” is just fine. ---
**Author:** ![ecseas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ecseas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecseas)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/109 "2011-01-18T06:10:46Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > The fact that movie and TV writers almost always balls-up the storyline that goes “Man returns to town after X many years and discovers that a former flame has a child.” If a man is gone **five** years, she shouldn’t have a **five** -year-old when he returns, regardless of if it’s his kid or not. (Unless of course the man in question is Forest Gump, who might not have realized that his sweetie was nine months pregnant when he left.) If they want the kid to be five, he needs to be gone close to six years for the timeline to work out believably. They rounded the number, like what happens in real life. People say they have been gone for 5 years, not 5 years and 4 months. people say they are 30 years old, not 30.5 years old. My friend ended up with a higher english grade then I did, and she can’t spell for shit. tomorr for tomorrow, school for should, farm for frame, mabey for maybe etc. People like her should fail. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/110 "2011-01-18T06:52:04Z")
> [@GoodOmens](#): > > Yep, any sort of lip synching just bugs me. Especially because you know the voice actor was not attractive enough to be on TV, so they had to match the “right” voice with the “right” actor. That drives me positively buggy! The ad will feature an attractive actor and their voice will be overdubbed! It never looks right. Ever! The face doesn’t match the voice. My little thing is something that wouldn’t matter to anyone who does not know how they are supposed to work. But if you know, the mistake is breathtakingly stupid. Microphones used wrong. The most popular microphone in the world is the [Shure SM-58](http://belfieldmusic.com.au/images/sm58.jpg). It has a mesh ball on the end, and it picks up sound at the “top” of the ball. The problem is that idiot directors think it doesn’t look “cool” or “retro” enough. So they get the props department to get a bunch of vintage microphones. Here’s the problem. Many vintage microphones had larger diaphragms - the fragile membrane that moves with the vibrations of the sound and translate sound into electricity. So the larger diaphragm is mounted so the sound is picked up via the side of the microphone. These are called “side address” microphones. The [Shure 55sh](http://www.bigdmc.com/55sh2.JPG) is a classic one, aka the “potato masher” or [“Elvis” microphone](http://www.uv201.com/Microphone_Pages/shure_55s.htm). On the linked stamp, Elvis is using it correctly. But half the time I see one in a movie or ad, some dumb fuck is [singing into the top of it](http://www.airaudio.co.uk/images/singer.jpg)! The solid metal top! Even people who have been around microphones their entire lives can be convinced to [hold this microphone wrong](http://www.flash-screen.com/free-wallpaper/uploads/200901/thus/1232265206_470x353_miley-cyrus-with-microphone.jpg)! Art directors love this microphone because it is _shiny_…they like _shiny_ things, so I’m constantly annoyed with this image. The venerable [RCA 77](http://www.coutant.org/rca77d/index.html) and [RCA 44](http://www.oaktreeent.com/web_photos/microphones/RCA_44_F-2375_Microphone_web.jpg) are also abused by morons singing into the top rather than the side. Again, Elvis knew [how to sing into these things](http://www.metrosonic.net/images/44/elvis.jpg). When in doubt, look for a picture of Elvis. ---
**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 18, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/111 "2011-01-18T16:38:01Z")
That arrogant dumb-ass photographer on the PBS series I can’t recall the name of. He says the most cringe-worthy things about people and cultures he has no understanding of. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/112 "2011-01-18T16:57:16Z")
How about the dramas where the camera slowly pans around the room, behind pillars and the backs of people’s heads? I think _24_ started the trend - at least that’s when I noticed it. Half the time the screen’s black because there’s a three-foot wide pillar blocking the view. Stop moving the camera! ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/113 "2011-01-18T17:11:47Z")
I thought of something else that irritates me (surprise, surprise). This is probably kinda douchey, but… So, in archaeology, most make tons of assumptions based on a nearly century-old minset, which - in my head anyway - seems to have originally developed when the British first began making such huge discoveries in Egypt (i.e., Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922) and areas within the Middle East. What this means is that everyone still assumes that a) Egypt is the end-all, be-all of civilization, b) writing was first “invented” in Sumeria, c) large city-states didn’t exist anywhere at anytime before said city-states existed in Egypt. It pisses me off to no end when people act all shocked that _gasp_ there really _were_ large civilizations in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, writing developed independently on other continents and that people have been in the Americas for a hell of a lot longer than originally thought. Yeah, I’m biased. I used to be an archaeologist specializing in South American archaeology. However, one very important thing that many archaeologists don’t seem to get is that there are very, very few new ideas. Living together in big groups in buildings isn’t a new idea. Adjusting the environment to suit a big group of people isn’t a new idea. Keeping track of large amounts of stuff by making notes isn’t a new idea. It drives me bonkers when you hear about these “completely unprecedented discoveries.” They shouldn’t be considered unprecedented - they should be _expected_, not astounding. In that same vein, I loathe the ridiculous amount of focus given to Egyptian archaeology. For God’s sake - we’ve been there, done that, beaten the horse to death. Cut it out, already! And if I have to see Dr. Zahi Hawass one more time, I’m going to poke my eyes out with knitting needles. The man is a charlatan and attention whore. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/114 "2011-01-18T17:26:02Z")
As a former student of pre-Norman Invasion Britain, I can sympathise, **overlyverbose** - it’s like Britain went from Romans -\> 1066 (and all that) -\> Tudors -\> Victorians. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/115 "2011-01-18T17:28:32Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > In that same vein, I loathe the ridiculous amount of focus given to Egyptian archaeology. For God’s sake - we’ve been there, done that, beaten the horse to death. Cut it out, already! And if I have to see Dr. Zahi Hawass one more time, I’m going to poke my eyes out with knitting needles. The man is a charlatan and attention whore. Preach it, Brother! I read a New Yorker profile of that guy and “discovered” that he was a douche bag. Glad to see my discovery verified by an independent researcher. Are you planning to publish? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/116 "2011-01-18T18:27:37Z")
Dream sequences in novels. Inevitably they are an excuse for narrative free-form prose-wanking by the author. Woooo, look how trippy I can be, aren’t you amazed? Woooooooo! They are a clumsy foreshadowing crutch by authors unskilled enough to integrate and blend foreshadowing techniques into the general narrative. I can’t recall ever reading one that contributed anything essential to the plot or characters of any novel I’ve read. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/117 "2011-02-26T17:32:28Z")
You know what little thing that irritates me? When a character steps into the shower, then turns on the water, then acts all suprised when the water is cold. Except water is always cold when you first turn on the faucet. It takes a certain amount of time to warm up, depending on how far the shower is from the water heater. The cold water in the pipe between the showerhead and the water heater has to pour out before the water will be warm. So every sensible person stands outside, turns on the shower, and waits for it to get warm. Or, if you’re a daredevil, you step in and turn on the water and expect a certain amount of freezing cold water. What you never do is step in the shower, turn on the water, and scream in suprise because it’s cold. ---
**Author:** ![MakeSweetPassionateSenseToMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@MakeSweetPassionateSenseToMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MakeSweetPassionateSenseToMe)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/118 "2011-03-01T09:11:50Z")
> [@Raskolnikov](#): > > I also hate when people mention something and then use the word “said” to refer back to “said item” , seriously, you’re not a lawyer - just stop it. You don’t sound more edjumaticated that anybody else. I get insanely frustrated when people use the elongated edjumaticated rather than the proper edjumacated… it’s like, c’mon man, you’z gots more book learnin’ than I, way to rub it in you pretentious so-and-so. Also, and more seriously, I absolutely abhor unnecessary (read: most) romantic subplots in films or shows that shouldn’t be strictly about a relationship in any way. _Titanic_ was a $100 million epic about the events leading up to one of the most fascinating disasters in human history, and yet the entire film is about a standard star-crossed lovers story that never actually happened. While that is the most glaring example that comes to mind, this trope is in virtually every film, television series, novel, and even most advertisements. I understand the draw that familiarity has, but do we really need to know that Ben Affleck is in love to be enthralled by the events that transpired at Pearl Harbor? ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/119 "2011-03-01T19:53:50Z")
At the risk of sounding sexist, yeah, many women find romantic subplots interesting. They help bring in ticket sales. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318/120 "2011-03-01T21:04:17Z")
> [@MakeSweetPassionateSenseToMe](#): > > I get insanely frustrated when people use the elongated edjumaticated rather than the proper edjumacated… it’s like, c’mon man, you’z gots more book learnin’ than I, way to rub it in you pretentious so-and-so. > > Also, and more seriously, I absolutely abhor unnecessary (read: most) romantic subplots in films or shows that shouldn’t be strictly about a relationship in any way. _Titanic_ was a $100 million epic about the events leading up to one of the most fascinating disasters in human history, and yet the entire film is about a standard star-crossed lovers story that never actually happened. But that’s precisely why it was such a genius film that made a gazillion dollars: how would YOU have written a screenplay to tell that story so that pretty much everyone would find the story compelling on some level? In the same way that big blockbustery violent action adventure films make the big bucks on repeat views, Titanic made it on repeat views. But instead of obsessive repeats by one segment of the filmgoing public, it made it on several, including girls and women. As a woman who very much enjoys all kinds of films, even extremely violent gorefests and mindless action extravaganzas, I don’t re-watch them for the most part. And without that central (badly written, but still it got me) love story in Titanic, I would only have watched it once, instead of the three times in the theatre and a couple more since. Most women need to give a shit about someone in peril in order to be really into a film on that level, and there’s nothing like a star-crossed lovers tale, with one of 'em dying at the end while declaring that it was worth it, to fill that bill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-irritate-in-a-big-way-cafe-edition/567318.md?page=7)