# Little things that you are irrationally picky about **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 19, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309 "2015-01-19T20:27:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/81 "2015-01-21T14:55:17Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > You’re welcome to it!😃 > > ‘Dealing with the situation as it is, not as we wish’, is a fully formed and well expressed thought. Which I can totally appreciate. > > “It is what it is”, is for people unable to recognize or express a fully formed thought, it seems to me. > > The table? Is what it is! The door? Is what it is! The carpet? Is what it is! Everything, everywhere, always, is what it is! > > Sorry, still a silly, meaningless, totally redundant, unnecessary, non illuminating phrase. I must disagree. It’s extremely useful when working with people who are complaining about some unchangeable fact or situation when we just need to move on and deal with it or simply stop complaining and move to the next thing. I’ve never heard it used the way you describe (a door, a table) but about situations that are unhappy or frustrating and can’t be changed. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/82 "2015-01-21T15:44:11Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > Any representation of a snowflake that has eight points. People, it’s not that hard to fold a paper in thirds instead of fourths. You may think your sparkly eight-sided doodad looks like a snowflake, but if it has eight points, it’s not snowflake. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Submitted for your approval: > > [What's Wrong With This Snowflake? : NPR](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121827582) Ignorance fought; thank you. Now I need a piece of paper and a pair of scissors so I can figure out how to make one correctly! > [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > Agreed! :smack: I mean, REALLY! > [@Smapti](#): > > On the flip side of the coin, I do _not_ take soft drinks with ice. I’d rather drink it at room temperature than have it watered down. > > Now, in a good cocktail, you _have_ to have ice, because the temperature changes the flavor. But in soft drinks, it really adds nothing. And my pet peeve is when I can’t convince the folks behind the counter that I really do want them to completely fill the cup with ice before they put in the soft drink. Otherwise it’s way too sugary and syrupy and just makes me thirstier the more of it I drink. > [@elbows](#): > > The phrase, “It is what it is.” I have to bite my lip, when I hear people say this. Could you say anything less meaningful? Sounds like a valley girl to my ear. I always want to ask if they’re sure it isn’t what it isn’t? > > Is there anything that isn’t what it is? No, there isn’t. Everything is what it is. When I hear someone I thought was pretty damn smart say this, I consider that I may be mistaken. > > It is a meaningless phrase, that adds nothing. Except makes the speaker sound akin to a teenager saying, “Whatever!” > > I never let on, but I confess, I’m a little judgey, inside, whenever I hear this stupid phrase. I’m sure it’s just me though! “Primal scream” : “despair” -as- “It is what it is” : “resignation” ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/83 "2015-01-21T15:52:40Z")
As far as I care, there is no number named “Oh”. There is one called “zero”. “Oh” is a letter. One of the cell phone providers, I think Sprint, has gone over to the dark side on this one. Call a San Antonio number (for example) with the voice mail not set up or the phone # out of service and the default message says something like “The number dialed, two-one-oh-five-five-five… is no longer in service.” AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/84 "2015-01-21T16:36:07Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > How about people who misuse the terms “font” and “typeface”? Clearly I’ve given up that battle, and now refer to them all as “fonts.” ---
**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:** [January 21, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/85 "2015-01-21T16:50:10Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > As someone who’s been known to use that phrase, it always puzzles me when people say it’s meaningless. It has a definite meaning. It means “We have to deal with the situation as it is, not as we wish it were.” Quite a useful thing to be able to say. > > You’ll get my “It is what it is” when you pry it from my cold, dead hands! 🙂 I agree with you and the other subsequent posters as to its meaning. It’s become an idiom, a simple canned phrase which stands in for a more complex idea. My complaint with the idiom is that it seems especially popular with people who don’t, or don’t want to, recognize that the situation actually IS very changeable. So they persist in reacting to symptoms, rather than addressing root causes to prevent future outbreaks of the same symptoms. IOW, the typical Pointy Haired Boss. e.g. Situation: The TPS system has crashed. _Again_. > [@](#): > > Unhappy Worker (UW): Why don’t we replace this old and failing hardware or at least get a RAID storage system so failures aren’t immediately catastrophic? > > PHB: (Thinking of his bonus which depends on minimizing capital expenditure) \*It is what it is. \*How about you work all weekend on unpaid overtime restoring the TPS database from backups instead of wasting time wishing the situation was different? > > UW: Grumble grumble … (Calls GF to cancel yet another date.) That’s \*my \*objection to “It is what it is.” ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/86 "2015-01-21T17:14:56Z")
Flavored vodka Why take an adult beverage that is perfect just as it is and adulterate it with fake flavoring only to make it more palatable to teenagers? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/87 "2015-01-21T17:24:45Z")
Ooh, ooh, thought of another one!! Calling someone an alum!!! Whenever I read that, I wonder why anyone would call someone aluminum potassium sulfate, as used in pickle brine. Really, writers, adding -ni, -na, -nae, or -nus to alum probably won’t give you carpal tunnel syndrome, but it will make people think you’re well educated if you use them correctly. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/88 "2015-01-21T17:53:30Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > Flavored vodka > > Why take an adult beverage that is perfect just as it is and adulterate it with fake flavoring only to make it more palatable to teenagers? I know you’re being rhetorical, but asking “Why?” in this case is especially silly. Vastly increased sales seems like reason enough for any business. And I’d bet a lot of the flavored stuff sells to the 20-something crowd too, so it’s not merely chasing the illicit market. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/89 "2015-01-21T17:57:33Z")
I hate when people do a powerpoint and they just read off the slide. Just print out the slides for me to read damn it, I don’t need to hear your droning voice for an hour if everything’s written on the slide itself. I’ll read it myself and my inner voice sounds like Morgan Freeman ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/90 "2015-01-21T18:26:44Z")
The opposite of find is LOSE. The opposite of tight is LOOSE. Someday I am going to LOSE my temper about this and you don’t want to see what happens when you set me LOOSE! Also, _al dente_ describes a particular state of cooking, “to the tooth”. Pasta cannot be more or less _al dente_, although it can be firmer or softer than _al dente_. It’s like somebody saying “I always like to arrive for events on time” and another person replying “I prefer to be more on time”. You can arrive earlier or later than on time but cannot be more on time or less on time. Therefore, stop telling me you would like your pasta “more _al dente_” since I can’t know whether you mean more well-cooked or less well-cooked. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/91 "2015-01-21T18:40:42Z")
Sorry, not buying it. If the phase can be used to describe everything, and every occurrence, every circumstance, anywhere, anytime, always, then I submit there is nothing that it adds. Everything since the beginning of time, into an unending future will always be ‘what it is’. There is literally nothing that can’t be ‘what it is’. It’s silly and lazy and redundant. ( ‘ **irrationally** picky about’ is right there in the title! ) ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/92 "2015-01-21T19:01:49Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > As someone who’s been known to use that phrase, it always puzzles me when people say it’s meaningless. It has a definite meaning. It means “We have to deal with the situation as it is, not as we wish it were.” Quite a useful thing to be able to say. I agree 100%. The gripe that it is overused and becoming unoriginal has merit, but not the complaint that its meaningless. Never understood the hate for it, to be honest. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/93 "2015-01-21T19:39:31Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > Also, _al dente_ describes a particular state of cooking, “to the tooth”. Pasta cannot be more or less _al dente_, although it can be firmer or softer than _al dente_. > It’s like somebody saying “I always like to arrive for events on time” and another person replying “I prefer to be more on time”. You can arrive earlier or later than on time but cannot be more on time or less on time. Therefore, stop telling me you would like your pasta “more _al dente_” since I can’t know whether you mean more well-cooked or less well-cooked. Unless you are using a [durometer](http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-durometer.htm) to decide when your pasta is done, there isn’t some fixed value for “al dente.” It is often translated idiomatically as meaning “firm to the bite.” So…yeah, something can be more or less al dente. What does _molto al dente_ mean, I wonder? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/94 "2015-01-21T19:45:05Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > The opposite of find is LOSE. > The opposite of tight is LOOSE. > Someday I am going to LOSE my temper about this and you don’t want to see what happens when you set me LOOSE! > > Also, _al dente_ describes a particular state of cooking, “to the tooth”. Pasta cannot be more or less _al dente_, although it can be firmer or softer than _al dente_. > It’s like somebody saying “I always like to arrive for events on time” and another person replying “I prefer to be more on time”. You can arrive earlier or later than on time but cannot be more on time or less on time. Therefore, stop telling me you would like your pasta “more _al dente_” since I can’t know whether you mean more well-cooked or less well-cooked. Funny aside: I like my coffee really strong. My ex-roommates always used to complain that they knew when I had made the coffee, because they had to chew it. Fast forward to a party when somebody asks how I like my coffee, and roomie says _ **“al dente!”** _😛 ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/95 "2015-01-21T19:50:22Z")
“Where’s it at?” sets my teeth on edge. And I can understand it if teenagers texting each other use abbreviations like ‘r’ for ‘are’, ‘u’ for ‘you’, etc. But in an email or a text to me from an adult, a coworker, a peer, a relative- basically anyone old enough to know better- that reads like “where r u going 2nite? we r having dinner n going 2 the movies”- GAH!! I see this on Facebook all the time, and I want to comment on their posts with “Look- I know you received a good education because I did, and we grew up in the same town and went to the same school, and it is regularly rated one of the best school systems in the state. You also attended a very good college. You’re an adult and you have a job and a family and you pay taxes and own a home. So why do you insist on showing the world that you can’t write a sentence that doesn’t make you look like you’re five years old?” ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/96 "2015-01-21T22:46:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I know you’re being rhetorical, but asking “Why?” in this case is especially silly. > > Vastly increased sales seems like reason enough for any business. And I’d bet a lot of the flavored stuff sells to the 20-something crowd too, so it’s not merely chasing the illicit market. I was all ready to do the research and justify my claim when I stopped to remember that this post was about things I’m irrationally picky about. Ergo, no need to make the argument. I’ll just embrace your helpfulness in proving how irrational my pickiness about flavored vodka really is. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/97 "2015-01-21T23:14:42Z")
Many of the things already mentioned. Minor and irrational: Microwaves that have a read out that says “_YOUR FOOD IS READY_.” When, it’s not, actually, ready yet. I will be the judge of that. Last time I shopped for a microwave I made sure to avoid that feature. Misspellings on professionally-done signs for businesses or products. “Body’s By Jake.” “Condon’s Auto Alinement.” “Bob’s Family Dinning.” “Featuring “Lite” Meals.” (All real signs in my area - if you don’t care enough to have it spelled right, I’m not giving you my business because right there, I’m assuming incompetency and lack of attention to detail.) Also “Convenient Location!” Convenient to _whom_, exactly? And, define “convenient.” Oh, while I am at it: “Construction, Decks and More!” “Heating, Cooling and More!” What the hell is “more”? Interpretive Dance? Custom lamp shades? Kitchen table plastic surgery and cat neutering while u wait? What? ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/98 "2015-01-22T00:08:48Z")
I’m not sure if this is what the OP is looking for, but I believe the “singular they” is an abomination which must be ruthlessly eradicated from the language. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/99 "2015-01-22T01:06:51Z")
It’s STRAITJACKET, not straight jacket or straightjacket! > [@kurtisokc](#): > > I’m not sure if this is what the OP is looking for, but I believe the “singular they” is an abomination which must be ruthlessly eradicated from the language. Some Shakespeare freak to say The Lard used it, as though _that’s_ a hall pass, in 3 2 1 . . . . ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309/100 "2015-01-22T01:07:17Z")
I still maintain that _al dente_ can be idiomatically translated to mean "firm to the bite or “slightly yielding to the bite”. Does “more _al dente_” mean more firm or less firm? (While I would argue more firm, most people use it to mean less firm and this is what I am irrational about). Just tell me in English how you like your pasta already! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/little-things-that-you-are-irrationally-picky-about/710309.md?page=6)