# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/161 "2018-04-11T19:12:50Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Garbage is kitchen and bathroom waste, trash is all else. Trash would be burned, garbage goes to the dump. Funny, because I’ve heard of places that have both dumps _and_ landfills, and you’d take trash to the dump like the Lone Ranger, where it can be recycled/repurposed/repaired, but take garbage to the landfill. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/162 "2018-04-11T20:02:55Z")
Doubt I’m alone on this one, but when I’m running a 5k (or its variations) and someone wears the race shirt they got in their packet DURING the race. No, you can’t wear the shirt during the race because you haven’t completed it yet. Once you’re done with the race THEN you can wear it. Exceptions are for the same race in a previous year or a previous race in a series (Say you wear the 10k shirt on the day of the half marathon for a challenge). ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/163 "2018-04-11T20:36:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 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”.\* Clearly he meant vowel sound, unless you think the “h” in honor is a vowel or the “u” in unicorn is a consonant. > [@](#): > > There is also the words “history, historical, histrionic” which used to have a silent H, but no longer but STILL get the “an”. People use “an” with ‘history’? ---
**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, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/164 "2018-04-11T21:06:05Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > People use “an” with ‘history’? Some people trying to sound smarter than they really are do tend to do this. I don’t find it objectionable in accents where you don’t aspirate the “h” in those words, so it sound like “an 'istorical,” but, on NPR especially, I often hear “an Historical,” and it drives me batty, too. ---
**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, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/165 "2018-04-11T21:08:03Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > 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…” Given the answers in this thread so far, it does seem to be dialectal. Here we don’t make a distinction. We use them absolutely interchangeably. ---
**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, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/166 "2018-04-11T21:10:59Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > a union > a one-legged man\* > > So there are two exceptions. Those follow the rule. The rule is not whether the word starts with a written consonant or letter; it’s whether it is sounded as a consonant or vowel. It’s very straightforward and the only exception I could find is one that IMHO people who should know better use “an” before “historical” in an archaic construction. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/167 "2018-04-12T04:05:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You don’t even need to take the old one off. You just put them over last year’s sticker. (And I seem to remember the instructions on the plate sticker itself tell you to do exactly that.) I never realized people were idiotic enough to do something like put them any place _other_ than where the last sticker was, in that recessed area. (Now I’m going to be obsessed with scanning plates to see this out in the wild.) They definitely deserve a ticket for being a moron. I’ve seen it just like **pkbites** had mentioned, actually once since I first replied here. There really are a lot of dumb dumbs out there. I never thought people were idiotic enough to steal them either. I do the aforementioned thing with scraping the old ones off and using scotch tape and a razor to make it impossible to steal. Extra minute or two for extra peace of mind. I’m willing to bet large quantities of something that the same people who do put the plate stickers in incorrect places are the same that have about 10 city stickers on their windows. ---
**Author:** ![HowSoonIsThen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@HowSoonIsThen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HowSoonIsThen)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/168 "2018-04-12T04:17:30Z")
People eating those big sushi rolls and pouring soy sauce (from those fish shaped bottles where only a few drops come out) on it after every bite. Such a small thing and I have no reason to be bothered. But I am… > [@MacLir](#): > > Carmel is a mountain in Israel! Speaking of Israel, the ‘a’ comes before the ‘e’. Where did the “Is-ree-il” pronunciation come from? I can’t stand arguments about Israel purely because that pronunciation annoys me. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/169 "2018-04-12T05:04:31Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I gave the example of how I’ve seen it done in other countries and it works quite nicely. > > … > > And if you don’t agree with me on this, please refer to the title of the thread! 😉 So, given that all of Europe and Latin America (at the very least, and excluding US-oriented resorts) agrees with you, what makes this a Pet Peeve _only you have_? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/170 "2018-04-12T05:11:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “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.”) I was mainly trying to avoid going into an explanation on seseo, but I did in fact have a (ESL) coworker who would randomly turn any English written “o”, “u” or “ou” into “oo”, “oo” into “ooo”. Be grateful you didn’t have to read her emails. Actually, I think she never wrote “yoo” for “you” (apparently that one had taken hold), but she would write “woold” instead of “would”, “boook” our travels and request “meeting minootes”. Take into account that for someone who’s ESL the distinctions between English vowels can be between blurry and WTF; this woman was particularly bad at languages. She thought her English was perfect because “I lived in the US for a year!” (it had been six months) when she actually had the worst accent of a team which included people that had never set foot in an English-speaking country. One of my coworkers would sometimes refer to her as “Miz Mooooo”. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/171 "2018-04-12T05:18:46Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Commenting on people’s food choices is rude. I don’t mind if my cashier want to make conversation, but lots of people are judgemental about what others eat, and lots of people have a lot of shame/guilt/negative emotions around what they eat. Food is PERSONAL. “That looks good” is pretty much the only allowable comment in any context, including a check out line. Additionally the items one buys can be deceiving to the cashier. Once I was at the register with a bounty of paper products (plates, napkins, etc) and plastic cutlery. The clerk cheerily asked if I was having a picnic. To which I replied, “No - a funeral.” Best stick to the weather. ---
**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 12, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/172 "2018-04-12T13:10:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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. “Trash” is anything that doesn’t have food remains on it. “Garbage” is anything with food remains. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/173 "2018-04-12T13:15:36Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > I’ll just go with one that’s pretty irrational. It’s about posts on message boards. It drives me nuts when someone signs their posts. They will post, then type out something like, “Sincerely, Jonathan,” on every single post. It’s not a formal correspondence and your name is on the post, so it’s not necessary. Also, if you really need to do that then the signature feature is made for that purpose. I suspect that it’s a OCD thing (on their part) and I would never actually complain, but this thread did request pet peeves that are limited to each of us. Ooh, I hate this too. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/174 "2018-04-12T13:21:46Z")
I HATE the word “Ultimate”, whether in commercials or otherwise, except when it’s obvious that it’s meant in “Last” sense. For example, I hate phrases like “The Ultimate driving machine.” Did you die testing it? I know it’s silly, but I hate that word. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/175 "2018-04-12T14:06:07Z")
> [@JuliaSqueezer](#): > > 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. Yeah she is always on the Howard Stern channel. I hate those commercials. Also the Boll and Branch commercials. ---
**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 12, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/176 "2018-04-12T14:12:26Z")
People who use an elevator in the morning and don’t send it back down to the ground floor upon exiting. Selfish pricks. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/177 "2018-04-12T14:49:47Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > People who use an elevator in the morning and don’t send it back down to the ground floor upon exiting. Selfish pricks. While this would be nice, I have never heard of this courtesy before. Seems like something only a minority of people would do in the first place. ---
**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 12, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/178 "2018-04-12T16:02:11Z")
It’s a pet peeve only I have. Totally works my tits and adds to my general air of mystery as a grouchy but unfailingly kind person. Don’t even get me started on sorting the silverware… ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/179 "2018-04-12T16:19:43Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > People who use an elevator in the morning and don’t send it back down to the ground floor upon exiting. Selfish pricks. Huh. What a good idea. Really, it would be a simple matter to analyze where an elevator is most often called to at what time, and pre-program them to wait there. Perhaps this is already being done? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001/180 "2018-04-12T16:22:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But honestly- what is the USE of An? It’s to avoid a glottal stop. Or rather, two glottal stops in a row. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pet-peeves-only-you-have/812001.md?page=10)