# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/121 "2018-04-10T18:24:08Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I hate how the use of double negatives has become so commonplace that people just accept it as part of how people talk these days. No, godammit. If a sports star says “They couldn’t do nothin to our defense” the reporter needs to call them out and ask “They couldn’t do nothing?”,or “They couldn’t do anything?” I think you mean “Couldn’t do anything.” When you say “Couldn’t do nothin” that actually means they could do something and makes you sound like an uneducated moron. So, would you like to try again? This is not true. Altho yes, a double negative could negate both negatives, usually it just strengthens them. Languages change, and unless there is confusion over what is meant, double negatives aren’t really a issue. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/122 "2018-04-10T18:46:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, the stuff made from sweetened milk is pronounced “dulce de leche”. > > One of mine that I know isn’t unique, but must be pretty rare, is mangling of Latin plurals. A lot of people can’t seem to wrap their brains around the concept that the rules of Latin are consistent. Like, if a word ends in -us in the singular, then for the plural, you replace the -us with -i. So, for instance, “alumnus” turns into “alumni” (oh, and by the way, Radcliffe, Bryn Mawr, and Vassar don’t have any alumni; they have alumnae). And “radius” turns into “radii”. That doesn’t mean that Latin has a rule that “plurals end in -ii”; it’s still the same rule as always. The ending of “radii” is still just -i. The other i is part of the root. Words that don’t have an i at the end of the root don’t get a doubled i just because. And none of this applies to words that don’t end in -us to begin with; those use a different rule (thus, for instance, the plural of “penis” is “penes”, not “penii”, which would be the plural of “penius”, whatever that is). > > And I get that a lot of people don’t want to learn the grammar rules for a half-dead ancient language, no matter how simple they are. That’s fine. If you don’t want to bother with the Latin rules, then just use the English ones. Someone (of either gender) who’s graduated from a school is an “alumn”, and a group of them are “alumns”. More than one penis are “penises”. We are speaking English, after all. Just, if you don’t know how to use the Latin rules correctly, then don’t use them at all. Yes, and usually the English plural is correct, because you’re not speaking Latin. My pet peeve is “Octopi”. It is “octopuses” . Octopi is wrong both as Latin (because the word isnt latin, for one) and in English. Other pet peeves- “tsunami” instead of “Tidal wave”. Tidal wave is perfectly correct, we dont need a Japanese word. No, they didnt think tides cause such waves “tidal” means occurring in the sea. “Tsunami” means “Harbor wave” and that’s even more incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/123 "2018-04-10T18:51:15Z")
> [@leschulz](#): > > Also, people who pronounce “caramel” as “care-a-mel” rather than “car-mel” drive me nuts - very pretentious! 🙂 Word Web \*\*caramel [ker-u-mel] \*\* So, there! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/124 "2018-04-10T19:19:58Z")
I hate, hate, hate, when I park at work with three or more open spots next to me and another car feels like they need to park directly next to mine. Especially because my office is 70% virtual, so the lot is almost empty and I specifically park further away from the door to avoid people parking next to me. I like having extra spots between me & the next car because I prefer to walk around my car to the passenger side to get my things out. I’m usually carrying 2-3 bags, so dragging all my crap across my lap is a pain in the ass. That said, it’s even worse when someone for some reason insists on parking right next to my car when I’m standing next to the passenger side getting my things out and they just wait for me to get my things even though there’s another, closer spot next to the one next to mine. I also hate it when there are 3 stalls open on either side of me and for some inexplicable reason someone squats in the stall directly next to mine. All of these things are completely benign, but they annoy the crap out of me. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/125 "2018-04-10T21:30:27Z")
Mahaloth #1, got a brother-in-law like this - “they tense up, take a tiny bite, and immediately decide they don’t like it.” I no longer try to broaden his horizons. He seems grateful for non-broadening. ---
**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/126 "2018-04-10T21:36:29Z")
Mine isn’t unique, but seems pretty rare. Drivers who stop so I can cross the street, when I’m standing on the sidewalk. Here, pedestrians always have the right of way when they’re in the road. But if I’m up on the curb, the cars have it and they’re just screwing up traffic when they stop before I’ve even made a move to cross. Sometimes, I stand on the sidewalk and I’m not even trying to cross. Or I just want to wait my turn. Or I don’t want to rush across. Or it’ll be dangerous for me to leap into the traffic on the other side, even if you’ve stopped this lane. Generally, I’ll decide when and if I cross, and you should keep driving until there’s some indication that I’m about to do it. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/127 "2018-04-10T21:47:25Z")
I can appreciate that people don’t want to be pestered by servers while eating, and I totally agree, but _my water cup is empty! Why is my water cup empty! Fill it now! Fill it it right now! Fill it five minutes ago! Why am I slurping air! Fill it now dammit now now now now!_ ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/128 "2018-04-10T21:51:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > That doesn’t bother me one way or another, but pronouncing schedule as “shed-ule” is like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. For some reason, it sounds hideous. That’s just the UK pronunciation (at least I’ve never heard it from USAns.). Another one that disconcerts me is “schism” pronounced as “sism.” I grew up knowing it as “skism,” but – and look in the dictionary – “sism” is listed as the primary/first pronunciation. Maybe most of you folk are thinking “well, yeah, that’s how it’s pronounced!” but to me it’s a glitch-in-the-matrix type of moment. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/129 "2018-04-10T22:15:58Z")
Oh! Another one. When people call an orangutan an “orangatang.” ---
**Author:** ![efedora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f9ae1b/32.png) [@efedora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/efedora)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/130 "2018-04-10T22:20:51Z")
This applies mostly to people who speak for a living (TV news, politicians etc.) 1. BETWEEN only refers to two people. If there are more than two then things happen AMONG them. 2. ET CETERA pronounced as “excetera” This happens constantly. In casual conversation, no biggie but when you are paid to speak you should understand the language. ---
**Author:** ![leschulz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@leschulz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leschulz)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/131 "2018-04-10T23:16:31Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I hate, hate, hate, when I park at work with three or more open spots next to me and another car feels like they need to park directly next to mine. However, after three times (3 different parking lots and 3 different cars) having someone hit the left side of my car when they pulled into the space to the left of my car, I now try always to park so there is a car directly to my left so anyone else has to park to my right. ---
**Author:** ![leschulz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@leschulz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leschulz)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/132 "2018-04-10T23:18:44Z")
> [@efedora](#): > > This applies mostly to people who speak for a living (TV news, politicians etc.) > > 1. BETWEEN only refers to two people. If there are more than two then things happen AMONG them. This reminds me of one that drives me nuts: “one of the better”. Better is comparative and applies to just two, Best is superlative and applies to a larger group. So “he is one of the best linebackers in the league”, “she is one of the best attorneys in town”, NOT “one of the better”! ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/133 "2018-04-10T23:23:53Z")
> [@leschulz](#): > > This reminds me of one that drives me nuts: “one of the better”. Better is comparative and applies to just two, Best is superlative and applies to a larger group. So “he is one of the best linebackers in the league”, “she is one of the best attorneys in town”, NOT “one of the better”! Er, ‘better’ isn’t restricted to just comparing two; when there are more than two things being compared “better” refers to some percentage of those entries that are, well, better than most of the others. It generally applies to a larger set of people than “one of the best” - it’s fainter praise. ---
**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:** [April 10, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/134 "2018-04-10T23:36:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > No, the stuff made from sweetened milk is pronounced “dulce de leche”. > > One of mine that I know isn’t unique, but must be pretty rare, is mangling of Latin plurals. A lot of people can’t seem to wrap their brains around the concept that the rules of Latin are consistent. Like, if a word ends in -us in the singular, then for the plural, you replace the -us with -i. So, for instance, “alumnus” turns into “alumni” (oh, and by the way, Radcliffe, Bryn Mawr, and Vassar don’t have any alumni; they have alumnae). And “radius” turns into “radii”. That doesn’t mean that Latin has a rule that “plurals end in -ii”; it’s still the same rule as always. The ending of “radii” is still just -i. The other i is part of the root. Words that don’t have an i at the end of the root don’t get a doubled i just because. And none of this applies to words that don’t end in -us to begin with; those use a different rule (thus, for instance, the plural of “penis” is “penes”, not “penii”, which would be the plural of “penius”, whatever that is). > > And I get that a lot of people don’t want to learn the grammar rules for a half-dead ancient language, no matter how simple they are. That’s fine. If you don’t want to bother with the Latin rules, then just use the English ones. Someone (of either gender) who’s graduated from a school is an “alumn”, and a group of them are “alumns”. More than one penis are “penises”. We are speaking English, after all. Just, if you don’t know how to use the Latin rules correctly, then don’t use them at all. Vassar College, which has been coed for several decades now, has quite a few alumni. I have taught a number of them. They do still have a building called the Alumnae House, but their grads are not by any means all alumnae. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/135 "2018-04-11T04:09:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I can name something more annoying than little yappy dogs: Big yappy dogs. My mom’s neighbors have a dog that’s some sort of bullish mix, about 80 pounds, and it _still_ yips. To be fair, it only seems to do it under two circumstances: When there’s another dog outside to yip at, or when it’s trying to get another dog to come outside. Ah, I believe your mother’s neighbors have a Bulldog that speaks Terrier. That shows the native intelligence of the bull mixes, especially if they can get the accent right. (Otherwise, those other dogs aren’t coming outside. Stuck-up bitches) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/136 "2018-04-11T04:51:26Z")
When people constantly use “a” instead of “an” before words starting with vowels. Like “a issue.” ---
**Author:** ![VictoryLap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9d8465/32.png) [@VictoryLap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VictoryLap)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/137 "2018-04-11T06:41:44Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I don’t like the phrase “please advise” in an email (that’s the only place I’ve ever seen it). I think one of my past clients used it in a very passive-aggressive way and it has made me cringe for years. > > Why not “what do you think?” Or “how can you help?” or “what can we do about this?” Or “can you fix it?” “Please advise” sounds so snarky. Hey Zip, I use this regularly in my work and it’s not perceived as nasty by any means… eg. If someone has an order etc but nothing matches up with product or pricing it gets a reply listing options with a basic ‘please advise’ meaning what do you want to do from here given these options? Please advise is not much more than a notification that the ball is in your court and we need confirmation together to progress further to avoid any future hassles What I would actually like to say is another matter entirely but I’ll leave it alone… ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/138 "2018-04-11T09:03:16Z")
> [@Marine\_One](#): > > When they put the stupid strike zone box on the screen for TV baseball games. > Arrggg! The ump will tell me if it’s a strike or not. > > Oh, and the super large graphic that they put between the runner on first and the base that shows how far away he us. Sorry but I love the strike zone box. Living in the UK and having only just got regular access to MLB, it really helps me follow the game. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/139 "2018-04-11T09:10:48Z")
People who walk around talking by using their cellphone speaker function with the phone 5 inches from their chin. I don’t care about your conversation, you are not special or important, put it up to your ear like a normal human! People casually talking on their phone with one hand when they should be bagging their groceries at checkout… that is another one. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/140 "2018-04-11T11:41:17Z")
> [@efedora](#): > > This applies mostly to people who speak for a living (TV news, politicians etc.) > > 1. BETWEEN only refers to two people. If there are more than two then things happen AMONG them. This is actually not quite correct. If the items are distinct, you use _between_ even if there are more than two items. For example, _there was a conversation between Maria, Joe, and Frank_; however, _there was a conversation among Maria’s friends_. It is not simply a matter of two versus two or more. [Here’s one of many cites](https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/between-versus-among). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=8)