# Pet Peeves only you have **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 7, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001 "2018-04-07T21:32:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/323 "2018-05-07T00:12:37Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > It drives me nuts how the definite article “the” gets capitalized all the time now in names. When I was a kid, we listened to the Beatles. Now, only in recent years, decades after the band ceased existing, they’re supposed to be “The” Beatles. Long ago we read the New York Times, but now it’s supposed to be “The” New York Times. Lately people have started proliferating the illicit capitalization into madness, to the point where you can see “the” capitalized in the middle of a sentence, no matter what the name is: random example, “we visited The Grand Canyon” instead of “the Grand Canyon.” > > Am I the only one who can’t stand this stupid trend? I get what you’re saying, but one exception would be The Who. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/324 "2018-05-08T02:11:39Z")
> [@Opus\_the\_Penguin](#): > > People who say or write “another thing coming.” It’s THINK, people!!! The phrase was a humorous solecism back when it was invented. If you think X, you’ve got another THINK coming. You’re not alone. One of mine: the frenulum. You know, that little ridge of skin that goes from the front of your teeth to inside your gum, ending up at the lip? HATE that thing. Can’t stop myself from chewing on it and worrying at it. It just annoys the fuck out of me on a constant basis. Pretty sure that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![NotaRobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@NotaRobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotaRobot)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/325 "2018-05-08T06:27:55Z")
The phrase, “I could care less” :smack: and when people confuse looser and loser ---
**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:** [May 11, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/326 "2018-05-11T19:33:01Z")
To those who design light rail transit cars: Just have the damn doors open automatically, will you? I’ve never yet and seen a train stop at a station without at least one person wanting to get on or off. Of the three LRT systems I have experienced first hand–the Sprinter (North SD County), L.A., AND S.F., only L.A.'s opens the doors by default. ---
**Author:** ![Opus\_the\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Opus\_the\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus_the_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2018, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/327 "2018-05-12T14:03:04Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > To those who design light rail transit cars: Just have the damn doors open automatically, will you? I’ve never yet and seen a train stop at a station without at least one person wanting to get on or off. Might there be some selection bias in your sample? You’re riding the rails at times when there will be at least one person for every stop. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/328 "2018-05-12T15:25:21Z")
> [@NotaRobot](#): > > The phrase, “I could care less” :smack: > and when people confuse looser and loser No way,\* tons\* of people have those pet peeves. [There are videos about the first one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2018, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/329 "2018-05-12T15:50:50Z")
I used to rail again and again about shaky cam in movies and TV shows (knowing full well it would pass sooner or later). It’s now been replaced by pan-cam, or pendulum cam, or something. It’s not new, I know, but it seems to be in every show. It’s where the camera makes a slow movement around the actor about halfway (not really a tracking shot, because the subject isn’t moving as in a walk and talk), then back again like a pendulum. The good part is it’s slow, and not frenetic. Worse though are the 360 degree shots. I hate fads. (That statement is directed toward this particular post, but it also encompasses any and all other posts I could make in this thread.) ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/330 "2018-05-12T16:57:58Z")
My neighbors back into their driveway. No reason for that to bug me, yet it does. And people who say “try and” instead of “try to.” ---
**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:** [May 12, 2018, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/331 "2018-05-12T22:08:06Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > It drives me nuts how the definite article “the” gets capitalized all the time now in names. When I was a kid, we listened to the Beatles. Now, only in recent years, decades after the band ceased existing, they’re supposed to be “The” Beatles. Long ago we read the New York Times, but now it’s supposed to be “The” New York Times. Lately people have started proliferating the illicit capitalization into madness, to the point where you can see “the” capitalized in the middle of a sentence, no matter what the name is: random example, “we visited The Grand Canyon” instead of “the Grand Canyon.” > > Am I the only one who can’t stand this stupid trend? This is slightly different but related, and in any event it’s been over for many years. There was a fairly short-lived trend in some nationally prominent print news organizations, sometime in the late 1970s or early 80s of capitalizing ANY job title before someone’s name in a news item. So it would be Bus Driver Joe Briggs in a story about a transit strike or Lead Engineer Bob Fitz in a story about a new aircraft in development. Or Garbage Collector Jason Williams, Stock Clerk Melissa Prince, Marketing Manager Mary D’Annunziato or Singer Whitney Houston. But hey, I do have another pet peeve for this thread, addressed to the _New Yorker_: For the love of all that’s holy, nobody, but nobody else writes “venders” and “focussed”. Why can’t you write “vendors” and “focused” like everyone else? See that? My spellchecker is flagging your stupid misspellings. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/332 "2018-05-16T21:05:52Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > This is slightly different but related, and in any event it’s been over for many years. There was a fairly short-lived trend in some nationally prominent print news organizations, sometime in the late 1970s or early 80s of capitalizing ANY job title before someone’s name in a news item. So it would be Bus Driver Joe Briggs in a story about a transit strike or Lead Engineer Bob Fitz in a story about a new aircraft in development. Or Garbage Collector Jason Williams, Stock Clerk Melissa Prince, Marketing Manager Mary D’Annunziato or Singer Whitney Houston. That was _Time_ magazine, specifically and idiosyncratically. Yes, it was annoying. Other writers called it [Time-ese](https://books.google.com/books?id=AXQfEaL5jQgC&lpg=PA97&ots=t0FGJgAWIx&dq=henry%20luce%20capitalized%20job%20titles&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false) (“capitalized and article-less Homeric epithets”), and apparently Henry Luce started it back in the 1930s. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/333 "2018-05-17T13:25:24Z")
Hearing ‘How come?’ instead of ‘Why?’. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/334 "2018-05-17T13:36:51Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > More to the point, they’re _more_ likely to be in the habit of using the turn signals for intersections that don’t have dedicated turn lanes, and for lane changes. And pedestrians crossing the street like to be able to see who is wanting to turn. Use your blinkers. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/335 "2018-05-17T17:41:21Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Hearing ‘How come?’ instead of ‘Why?’. Really? How come? Of course, you could reply “Just like white man, through pecker”. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/336 "2018-05-17T18:48:49Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Really? How come? > > Of course, you could reply “Just like white man, through pecker”. I laughed undefensibly hard at this 😃 My pet peeve…At the computer I mouse with my left hand. I don’t reconfigure the buttons though. Without fail, someone will point out that my buttons aren’t switched for left-hand. I know, I want it that way! If I wanted to fully descend into left-handed savagery I’d also go re-sew all of my shirt buttons. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Lebodnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/fbc32d/32.png) [@Mr.Lebodnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Lebodnik)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/337 "2018-05-18T06:13:08Z")
It bothers me when I read or hear someone say “could care less” instead of “couldn’t care less”. I mean, just think about it. Also, it bothers, no, positively makes me cringe, when someone clamps down on their fork or spoon with their teeth when eating then slides the metal utensil out of their clenched teeth. I just can’t handle that metal sliding on teeth sound. It somehow hurts _my_ teeth. Horrible. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/338 "2018-05-18T12:13:21Z")
Reading and agreeing with so many of these plus the ones I can come up with on my own has me feeling like a really cranky bastard :mad:😛 For some reason the use of the term “mom” when it’s used almost like a job title really grates on me. Like in a commercial where some lady will say “I’m A MOM . . .” or when the news anchor says “A Bay Area MOM”. Hey, I respect mothers, I loved my own mother, but to me "mom’ is what you call your own mother and not some royal title. Another thing that unreasonably irritates me is when people refer to Disney World and / or the adjacent parks as just “Disney”, as in “we’re going to Disney this weekend”. And, way more than a mere pet peeve - if misophonia is really a thing I have it in spades- but I find more and more American accents / dialects are really unpleasant. If I had my druthers, we’d all speak like the newscasters of old. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/339 "2018-05-18T14:23:48Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > More to the point, they’re _more_ likely to be in the habit of using the turn signals for intersections that don’t have dedicated turn lanes, and for lane changes. I’m a compulsive blinkerite. I figure the more info I can give other drivers about my next move, the better off we all are. Bonus: I drive BMWs! Cue meme: [https://goo.gl/images/RF7Vg9](https://goo.gl/images/RF7Vg9) ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/340 "2018-05-18T14:55:03Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Oooo, you just reminded me of one. I teach at the community colleges. A couple of my colleagues refer to themselves as “Mr. Soandso” in their syllabi, on notes posted at their offices, etc. It irritates the hell out of me. Dude, this isn’t high school. It’s _college_. You’re not special, get over yourself. In this day and age, students call us by our first names. Hell, when I was first in college 30 years ago, that’s how it was. And one of them is a young guy, maybe 30 or 35. To be fair, I don’t know if these teachers actually require their students to address them as “Mr.,” but still. > > In a similar vein. One time I was in a Walgreens and observed a few of the employees address who I assume was the manager as “Mr. Ng.” I had to resist the temptation to go over to him and say “dude, you’re a fucking retail manager! Who the hell do you think you are?!” FTR, I was the general manager of a restaurant at the time, so I was exactly at his level. I never would have entertained the idea that my employees call me by anything but my first name. I’m also at a CC and invite my students to call me by first name rather than “Dr.” The vast majority don’t and use professor or doctor. My pet peeve are colleagues who flip out when a student calls them anything but their full honorific. Yeah, it’s cool if that’s what you want, but don’t call out a student in public. Gak. I’m certain this is a Big General Peeve, but I’ll throw it in. Last night was commencement and, per usual, it was three hours of speechifying honoring the board of trustees, professors emeriti, community people who run Martin’s Stuff 'n Thangs Dollar Store, and a 1968 alumnus Who Done Good. The commencement speaker was the usual type of guy who runs the local Ford dealership and offers the usual carpe diems and “inspirational” quotes from his Google search. Then we’re told to hold applause while the graduates are hustled through the stage walk for their four whole seconds of recognition. It always feels like the most important element – and the ONLY reason to be there – to honor our new grads, is an afterthought. Everything else is fucking self-congratulary dreck. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/341 "2018-05-18T18:30:28Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > For some reason the use of the term “mom” when it’s used almost like a job title really grates on me. Like in a commercial where some lady will say “I’m A MOM . . .” or when the news anchor says “A Bay Area MOM”. Hey, I respect mothers, I loved my own mother, but to me "mom’ is what you call your own mother and not some royal title. > > Another thing that unreasonably irritates me is when people refer to Disney World and / or the adjacent parks as just “Disney”, as in “we’re going to Disney this weekend”. I share that one with you. “Mother” is not a job title, any more than “Dad”. I am guilty of that myself. We often just say “DL” or “The parks”. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/342 "2018-05-18T19:24:09Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > I’m also at a CC and invite my students to call me by first name rather than “Dr.” The vast majority don’t and use professor or doctor. > > My pet peeve are colleagues who flip out when a student calls them anything but their full honorific. Yeah, it’s cool if that’s what you want, but don’t call out a student in public. Gak… I have been an adjunct at two colleges. Calling a professor by first name is just about absolutely not done at one of them; even adult grad students call their professors with an honorific. At the other it’s a little more relaxed, depends on the department; in my department instructors often are called by their first names, but it’s not absolute. I invite my students to do whatever they’re comfortable with. Some use Ulf, others don’t. Leading to a nice little juxtaposition a couple of years ago when two students handed in (Printed-out!) papers before class. One had the following header: Name of student Name of course Date Dr. Unwashed The other read Name of student Name of course Date Ulf Got a kick out of that one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=18)