# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![leschulz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@leschulz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leschulz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/141 "2018-04-11T12:57:21Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > 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. I know that how people use it, I just don’t think it’s right. ---
**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:** [April 11, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/142 "2018-04-11T12:58:11Z")
I am hardly alone on this one, but one that bugs me and I don’t get to discuss much…is one from being a teacher: - total apathy about a child’s future and education Thing is, I’m hardly hoity toity “school is everything”. When kids go on hunting trips with Mom and Dad or take a week off school for some great trip, I think it’s awesome. Education happens outside school as much(more??) than in. I even get that kids struggle with Math and English(my subject). I just don’t get a total apathy to education, even a de-emphasis at home. I call so many parents who answer the phone sounding confused, almost startled that they are being asked or told about their child’s education. Very hard to explain without sounding judgmental…but I guess if it is a pet peeve I kind of am judging. I just work in an are with a lot of kids whose parents very clear care less than zero about school and see it as a “place my kid goes for a few hours” or free(well, tax provided) babysitting. ---
**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, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/143 "2018-04-11T12:58:48Z")
> [@VictoryLap](#): > > 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… My rule is: Would you say it in real life? If not, why would you want your “online persona” to be more rude or robotic? This applies to texting: Would you say “Yo, 'sup, dawg?” in person? (Okay, I act all Street Lingo with one friend to be funny, but still I wouldn’t sound like 90s Gangstah IRL) And work communication, like breakroom notes: “Diet Snapple Thief, I’ve called the cops! And HR!!! Touch ANYthing and you’re a dead man!!! - Malcolm” Where I made the rule was in writing commercials: “Gosh, mom, there’s one span of days each month when I just don’t feel fresh…” So, would you turn to your best friend and say “Want to get pizza? Please advise.”? ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/144 "2018-04-11T13:17:53Z")
That woman who invented Madison Reed hair color and voices her own commercials on the radio. Harsh, grating voice, like fingernails on a chalkboard. I can’t switch the station fast enough. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/145 "2018-04-11T13:44:27Z")
Growing up, we had trash cans in the house, but the only garbage can was the one on the outside kitchen porch. My mother did not care it was 50 degrees below and a blizzard was raging, we did not put garbage in the trash cans. You went outside and put it in the garbage can, or she would go batshit crazy. To this day, I have to put anything that held food in an outside garbage can. ---
**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, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/146 "2018-04-11T13:53:48Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Growing up, we had trash cans in the house, but the only garbage can was the one on the outside kitchen porch. My mother did not care it was 50 degrees below and a blizzard was raging, we did not put garbage in the trash cans. You went outside and put it in the garbage can, or she would go batshit crazy. > > To this day, I have to put anything that held food in an outside garbage can. Ok, this must be a dialect difference, as “trash” and “garbage” are synonyms to me. Trash can, garbage can, same thing. I understand the difference you are drawing between the outdoor garbage can and the indoor one, but I don’t quite understand “we did not put garbage in the trash cans.” In my dialect, that’s all the same. Your last sentence clues me in that food containers are apparently “garbage” but not “trash,” but I’m not sure what the distinction is. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/147 "2018-04-11T15:17:17Z")
- TERRORISM to describe any old sort of public violence. If the sole intent of the perp is just violence, then it’s just violence. Terrorism is a tactic used to advance a larger political agenda of a group. It’s intent is to demonstrate the impotence of a governing power to defend its supporters or itself. Some random dickhead who wants to shoot up a nightclub or school is just that: a dickhead. For those acts to rise to the level of Terrorism, they would have to be part of an organized campaign with a publicly stated mission. A bunch of bravado & threats beforehand “It’s coming!”, the action, and then some nose-thumbing, “Yep, that was us. Try and stop us, bitches!” Granting the label of terrorist to the random dickhead gives him way too much credit. - Officially recognizing a terrorist group, and associating an attack with them. Doing so gives the group what they want: notoriety. By all means, ferret them out on the down-low. But never give them the public recognition they seek. If you _must_ attribute an event to an organized act of terror (9/11/01 attacks were too obviously coordinated to attribute to random dickheads), they are only some nameless militia, possibly a cannibal cult or something equally ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/148 "2018-04-11T15:22:58Z")
I hate hypercorrections: when people make mistakes out of trying to be more correct than the actual rule. I’m not talking about things such as having problems with irregular verbs, but about writing “sooch” because “no way is ‘such’ the correct spelling”. This one is common in its general form: people who insist in doubling up words in order to include both genders. But in that form I’m sort of ok with it except when there is a common word which would cover both forms or when someone tacks “male and female” on every other noun. “Children” covers “boys and girls” - don’t get me started on “male and female children”. With the amount of gendering Spanish nouns and adjectives have, some of our politicians end up sounding like they’re a grammar exercise rather than someone giving a speech. ---
**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, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/149 "2018-04-11T15:29:15Z")
“Sooch”? That’s a new one to me. Where do you see this? Either way one pronounces “oo” (as in “book” or as in “moo”), neither is the vowel sound in “such” (at least in my Great Lakes American dialect. It sounds like it could be vaguely Irish or Scottish or Northern English or something with the way I’m imagining “oo.”) ---
**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 11, 2018, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/150 "2018-04-11T15:34:07Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > - TERRORISM to describe any old sort of public violence. If the sole intent of the perp is just violence, then it’s just violence. Terrorism is a tactic used to advance a larger political agenda of a group. Similarly, for a while Fox New tried to make the idiotic term “homicide bomber” stick, because for some reason they didn’t want to acknowledge someone committing deliberate suicide in the process. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/151 "2018-04-11T16:20:11Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > When people constantly use “a” instead of “an” before words starting with vowels. Like “a issue.” That is a weird English construction which has to go. It adds nothing to the language and doesnt always follow it’s own rules, causing problems with kids and ESL learner. It’s stupid. ---
**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, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/152 "2018-04-11T16:27:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > That is a weird English construction which has to go. It adds nothing to the language and doesnt always follow it’s own rules, causing problems with kids and ESL learner. > > It’s stupid. “A” vs “An”? It makes some sort of sense, and certainly isn’t an English-only phenomenon. Hungarian has the same thing with “a” vs “az” (definite article instead of indefinite, though) when one precedes a consonant vs a vowel sound. It’s all about euphony and I get it. That said, I really can’t think of a time I’ve heard a native English speaker say something like “a issue.” ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/153 "2018-04-11T16:41:15Z")
The song “That Girl is Mine” by Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney makes me want to punch people. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/154 "2018-04-11T17:01:45Z")
I’ve got a fairly uncommon one - correctly tearing open ketchup packets. I always tear the corner off diagonally along the dotted lines as indicated on the packet. The other members of my family have the annoying habit of making a single vertical tear down the center. Fools! They don’t appreciate that this method is not only messier, but it’s also less hygienic, as it exposes ketchup to the packet’s exterior. Not only that, it makes it harder to entirely empty the contents (without creating a mess). But NO! They can’t simply content themselves with squeezing toothpaste from the middle of the tube, and insist on engaging in this ill-conceived ketchup packet opening technique! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/155 "2018-04-11T17:08:20Z")
OK, I stand corrected on Vassar. I guess they just built up enough of a reputation as _the_ all-women’s college that it took a while to fade away. **DrDeth** , I can’t think of any exception at all (most unusual, for English grammar) to the rules for “a” vs. “an”. If the noun starts with a vowel, like “apple”, “umbrella”, or “honor”, then it gets “an”. If it starts with a consonant, like “banana”, “house”, or “unicorn”, then it gets “a”. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/156 "2018-04-11T18:01:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, I stand corrected on Vassar. I guess they just built up enough of a reputation as _the_ all-women’s college that it took a while to fade away. > > **DrDeth** , I can’t think of any exception at all (most unusual, for English grammar) to the rules for “a” vs. “an”. If the noun starts with a vowel, like “apple”, “umbrella”, or “honor”, then it gets “an”. If it starts with a consonant, like “banana”, “house”, or “unicorn”, then it gets “a”. Hour. \*Use “an” before a slient or unsounded “h.” Because the “h” does not have any phonetic representation or audible sound, the sound that follows the article is a vowel; consequently, “an” is used. an honorable peace an honest error\* [https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/591/01/](https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/591/01/) But honestly- what is the USE of An? ---
**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, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/157 "2018-04-11T18:35:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “A” vs “An”? It makes some sort of sense, and certainly isn’t an English-only phenomenon. Hungarian has the same thing with “a” vs “az” (definite article instead of indefinite, though) when one precedes a consonant vs a vowel sound. It’s all about euphony and I get it. That said, I really can’t think of a time I’ve heard a native English speaker say something like “a issue.” I can show you an example right in this thread. That is why it’s bothersome, because no one \*\*says \*\*“a issue.” > [@DrDeth](#): > > Hour. > > \*Use “an” before a slient or unsounded “h.” Because the “h” does not have any phonetic representation or audible sound, the sound that follows the article is a vowel; consequently, “an” is used. > > an honorable peace > an honest error\* > > [Purdue OWL® - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University](https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/591/01/) > > But honestly- what is the USE of An? That’s \*exactly \*what Chronos just said. That’s not an exception at all, that \*is \*the rule. If it starts with a vowel sound, it uses “an.” ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/158 "2018-04-11T18:56:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Your last sentence clues me in that food containers are apparently “garbage” but not “trash,” but I’m not sure what the distinction is. I only leard the difference relatively recently, too. Basically, garbage is wet and trash is dry. Garbage is kitchen and bathroom waste, trash is all else. Trash would be burned, garbage goes to the dump. “Take out the papers and the trash…” ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/159 "2018-04-11T19:04:19Z")
Related, but a bit more obscure is the pronunciation of “the” before consonant or vowel. It’s spelled the same way, but before a vowel, it gets pronounced “thee”. _Thee_ elephant, _thuh_ box. Ohio State University gets teased a lot for over-pronouncing THEE, but it’s the legitimate way to pronounce it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/160 "2018-04-11T19:05:31Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I can show you an example right in this thread. That is why it’s bothersome, because no one \*\*says \*\*“a issue.” > That’s \*exactly \*what Chronos just said. That’s not an exception at all, that \*is \*the rule. If it starts with a vowel sound, it uses “an.” That cite calls it a exception. **“Exceptions”** And Chonos said nothing at all about vowel _sound,_:\* If the noun starts with a vowel, like “apple”, “umbrella”, or “honor”, then it gets “an”. If it starts with a consonant, like “banana”, “house”, or “unicorn”, then it gets “a”.\* and there is also: \*When “u” makes the same sound as the “y” in “you,” or “o” makes the same sound as “w” in “won,” then a is used. The word-initial “y” sound (“unicorn”) is a glide [j] phonetically, which has consonantal properties; consequently, it is treated as a consonant, requiring “a.” a union a one-legged man\* So there are two exceptions. or more, here is a Pdf listing them all:[https://www.untdallas.edu/sites/default/files/page\_level2/jmd0413/pdf/esl\_article\_usage\_rules.pdf](https://www.untdallas.edu/sites/default/files/page_level2/jmd0413/pdf/esl_article_usage_rules.pdf) There is also the words “history, historical, histrionic” which used to have a silent H, but no longer but STILL get the “an”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=9)