# Non-nails-on-chalkboard noises that give you the nails-on-chalkboard feeling **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 30, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410 "2005-11-30T17:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/41 "2005-12-01T00:40:03Z")
Second the biting a wooden popsicle stick. Oh God, the thought is just making me shiver. Also, licking a wooden stick (yeah I know, but don’t you think thats a little too easy?), or even just running your fingers across a wooden stick. Something about that wood. Chill, Shiver. Yuck. Does anyone have any possible explanation for why these things occur? What’s the deal? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/42 "2005-12-01T02:17:14Z")
Teeth grinding, teeth grinding, teeth grinding. One of the local radio outlets was running a commercial that started with the sound of grinding teeth, then an announcer came on saying “we’re going to keep doing this until you call us to find out how you can get treatment”. I don’t listen to that station any more. Wailing children. This may very well be why I’m still single and childless. Clicking dentures (shudder). Scraping a chair across a tile floor. Now, for some reason, rubbing balloons and squeaking styrofoam, no problem. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/43 "2005-12-01T04:06:22Z")
I just finished a partial water change in our aquariums, and I had to scrape the insides of the tanks with a razor blade…I think my teeth will be permanently _curled_. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/44 "2005-12-01T05:05:58Z")
Most of mine have already been mentioned, but I’ve got a new one at my new job. There is this loud, medium-pitched drone that comes on irregularly that makes my face throb. You know how sounds can set up sympathetic vibrations? Well, I believe this drone is the same pitch as my sinus cavities. Oh joy. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/45 "2005-12-01T05:16:02Z")
> [@the brave navel](#): > > You know that sound you get when someone goes to erase something with the end of a pencil and the eraser is completely worn down? My skin’s crawling in waves at the thought. That is THE WORST. I actually had to hold my hands over my ears and calm down after reading that before being able to post this reply. Related, and almost as bad, is when someone (sometimes me) picks up a clickly pen (is there a name for that? the kind of ball point that you have to click) and starts writing, only the writing part of the pen is still retracted. The plastic on paper noise is unbearable. This is not really a noise, but more like a feeling, but a feeling that feels so bad that I “hear” it inside my head – if you have a rough or chapped spot of skin on your hand, perhaps even so small that you haven’t noticed it before, and it “catches” on silk or similar fine fabric. Ugh. On the other hand, I like the styrofoam noise, and the squeaky cheap paper noise. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/46 "2005-12-01T05:28:08Z")
The ripping or cutting of cardboard and styrofoam squeaking does it to me as well. Also, every once in a while one of my cats will grab a ball of foil out of the garbage and chew on it and I almost have seizures over that. The thought of bitiing into foil … AAAACKK! ---
**Author:** ![LVgeogeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@LVgeogeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVgeogeek)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/47 "2005-12-01T07:04:01Z")
Screeching tires Crunching metal (as in two cars smashing together) Squeaks from chewing cheese curds Sounds of people chewing Screeching children Dentist drill … Worst.Noise.Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/48 "2005-12-01T07:23:13Z")
Very few of the noises mentioned so far bother me at all. Nails on chalkboard, in fact, I find sort of, well, not pleasant exactly, but interesting. Styrofoam on styrofoam, on the other hand, makes me want to run at the wall with my face. Oh, and I should probably add that the sound of a wolverine slashing his way through a crowded orphanage also puts me a bit on edge. And I don’t know if this qualifies, but “I’m the little monster who lives under your toenail” is the single worst sound in the history of human civilization. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/49 "2005-12-01T07:49:12Z")
A few more I thought of: My cats’ water fountain when it starts to run out of water. The thing is two rooms away from my bedroom, and it’s wakened me from a sound sleep before. The high-pitched whine of a TV that’s turned on. The wolverine/crowded orphanage one has never bothered me though. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/50 "2005-12-01T08:59:16Z")
Metal (actually, pretty much _any_) utensils on unglazed pottery Teeth on rough wooden spoon, or wooden ice lolly stick. **gggrruuuaaaaaggghhhh!!** ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/51 "2005-12-01T09:48:21Z")
The sound of someone singing high notes in a certain way - not quite singing them outright but sort of sliding into them quickly like that sci-fi sounding instrument where you wave your hands around two metal wires. For this reason I can’t listen to many divas and countertenors. Another thing that doesn’t send whills down my spine as much as it outright terrifies me is the sound of vacuum cleaners and ventilation fans. I turn on the fans when cooking and it’s not so bad, but if you ask me to turn on the one in the toilet or shower… nuh-uh. No way am I staying in an enclosed space with THAT sound. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/52 "2005-12-01T09:57:31Z")
I hate it when someone flicks their fingernails together. I’m not sure if that’s what you call it, though. My nails are never long enough to do this, but my mother has a habit of doing it. The sound is horrible. I also am completely ooged out by the sound of joints popping and cracking. My right knee has started making a weird noise, like crackling cellophane, when I have to go up and down a lot of stairs. ::shudders:: The worst part is that it’s _my_ knee, so I can’t get away from the sound. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/53 "2005-12-01T10:14:19Z")
Rough pottery grinding together. The faint _hisss_ when you can’t get an old faucet turned off completely. And—does anyone else get that thing where, in a totally dead-silent environment, you can hear a faint…not quite a hiss, not quite a drone, but _something_? Maybe it’s the blood moving through the vessels in my skull. Maybe it’s extremely mild tinnitus. Maybe everyone gets it, or maybe I’m just nuts. But whatever it is, for me, it’s the sound of silence. And it’s insidious. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/54 "2005-12-01T11:59:56Z")
No one has mentioned mine yet, which seems to verify my freakitude. The plastic ‘fabric’ that warmup pants are sometimes made out of–when someone is walking in these and their thighs are rubbing together, the sound of the fabric running over itself sets my teeth on edge. I have to walk in the other direction to prevent going insane. ---
**Author:** ![Gundhilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@Gundhilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundhilde)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/55 "2005-12-01T12:43:30Z")
I can’t stand the sound of paper tearing. Any paper. Newspaper, envelopes… yeah, I am pretty much doomed to get chills up my spine with shocking regularity. When I have to tear an envelope, I just try to think really hard about what might be inside. I really should invest in a letter opener. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/56 "2005-12-01T18:23:20Z")
> [@csharpmajor](#): > > that sci-fi sounding instrument where you wave your hands around two metal wires \ That would be a theremin. \ ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/57 "2005-12-01T18:30:36Z")
It isn’t so much the sound of the dentist’s drill as it is the smell of burning tooth enamel. I can’t take cutlery scraping on dinner ware. A friend of mine can’t handle wooden spoons - literally. He refuses to touch them. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/58 "2005-12-01T19:55:54Z")
Ooh, another one. I’ll shrivel, go batshit, & piroutte-triple lutz-backflip to the stereo to stop the grating sound that is _Dido’s_ voice. It’s not about musical taste, it’s something about her voice that makes me want to shove my nipples into a paper-shredder. I had an ex that liked her music, and Og knows I tried to listen to it. \ I’m going to puke now. I could write a list a mile long actually. I have inherited my Mother’s very acute hearing so high-pitch, low-pitch, and high decibel sounds kill the both of us. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/59 "2005-12-02T03:56:50Z")
> [@the brave navel](#): > > You know that sound you get when someone goes to erase something with the end of a pencil and the eraser is completely worn down? My skin’s crawling in waves at the thought. Ok, yeah. That made me squick out, touch my shoulder blades together, and shake my hands around. > [@Ranchoth](#): > > And—does anyone else get that thing where, in a totally dead-silent environment, you can hear a faint…not quite a hiss, not quite a drone, but _something_? Maybe it’s the blood moving through the vessels in my skull. Maybe it’s extremely mild tinnitus. Maybe everyone gets it, or maybe I’m just nuts. But whatever it is, for me, it’s the sound of silence. And it’s insidious. I get that too, so I just keep the TV on all the time for the background noise. I think I read in Discover Magazine a squillion years ago that it’s a noise your brain makes to keep you awake. No cite tho, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410/60 "2005-12-02T04:18:36Z")
I also hate nails files, but only metal ones - actually metal filing anything. I also hate the sound of two rough edged coins rubbing together (like our dimes or quarters) - I am actually goosebumpy thinking about it. I also hate the dentists drill. It’s like filing - but **in your head!** :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-nails-on-chalkboard-noises-that-give-you-the-nails-on-chalkboard-feeling/333410.md?page=4)