# Sounds you don't want to hear **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 16, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926 "2019-12-16T03:26:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/41 "2019-12-16T19:36:05Z")
You know that sound a balloon makes when it’s pricked by a pin? Kinda like a high-pitched squeal, followed by a lowering-pitched flatulent flutter as the pinhole enlarges and the balloon accelerates while deflating and zig-zagging all over the room, till the small rubber mass comes to rest on the floor? Yeah, I don’t want to hear that sound when I’m up in a hot-air balloon. …It’s happened too many times already and it’s starting to piss me off. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/42 "2019-12-17T01:10:46Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > How about a dog licking his feet or other body parts in the middle of the night? The slow, methodical “lick, lick, lick” sound sends me over the edge. I had a guinea pig who would go at his water bottle at night, in a hypnotically repetitive way for what seemed like hours. ''slurp slurp clatter clatter slurp slurp clatter clatter slurp slurp clatter clatter" Occasionally I had to throw a pillow or paperback book at his cage to break the cycle. There would be a soft “wuh!” and then blessed silence. Rabbit panic is bad. I remember a juvenile I grabbed to be relocated to the front yard away from the vegetable garden, whose screams made my hair stand on end. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/43 "2019-12-17T01:31:28Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Any strange sound from the car, especially when I’m driving. Tire pressure sensor alarm when I’m driving on a mountain road with no shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/44 "2019-12-17T01:58:50Z")
I expect most of you think bats fly silently, but when you’re lying in bed in a quiet room, you can actually hear the wings flap. I’ve caught at least 4 of them in the bedroom of my current house (30+ years). I just want to dive under the covers, but my wife does that so I have to get my butterfly net. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/45 "2019-12-17T02:01:47Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > I expect most of you think bats fly silently, but when you’re lying in bed in a quiet room, you can actually hear the wings flap. Yeah, I had that with mosquitoes when I lived in Florida. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/46 "2019-12-17T02:15:10Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Some critter skittering around inside a wall. The first time it happened it scared the crap out of me, because I thought it might actually be in the room. Realizing it was in the wall wasn’t much more reassuring. > > Fortunately, every time it’s happened, I’ve been able to call a professional to deal with it. My parents converted the garage into a family room in the house I grew up in. To save on costs, they just put in a dropped ceiling with those light weight panels. I was maybe 13 or 14 at the time. My little brother was about 8 or 9. A mouse got in and was up in the ceiling walking around on those panels one day. Brother got the brilliant idea to toss one of those spring-loaded mouse traps up there. It got the mouse, but didn’t kill it. Then you had the sound of the mouse dragging the trap over the tiles. Horrible. My mom made him get and put it out its misery. Gave me a certain sympathy for poor little mousies after that. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/47 "2019-12-17T02:16:27Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Yeah, I had that with mosquitoes when I lived in Florida. Gawd, I hate that whine. It’s like hearing the whine of a dropping bomb. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/48 "2019-12-17T07:31:23Z")
The chirp chirp of some detector. A couple weeks ago I was having terrible knee pain and it really hurt to walk. I was awoken by chirp chirping at 5 a.m. (of course). I had to hobble around the house first making sure nothing was on fire and then trying to determine which detector was chirping. It was the CO detector. I got the step stool to get it down thinking it needed batteries. According to the instructions on the back, it was telling me it was at the end of its life. So the next day I had to hobble through Lowe’s to get a new one. Anyway, those chirps always panic me when they wake me up. And it seems they almost always go off in the middle of the night. I _know_ if it was a real emergency, they wouldn’t just be intermittently chirping but that sudden waking from sleep throws me off. I hate those sounds. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/49 "2019-12-17T08:58:51Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > I read the thread title and immediately thought “cat horking.” I was thinking “gunshots in the street right outside”. Or “violent automobile collision”. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/50 "2019-12-17T10:02:27Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > It was the CO detector. I just banished my chirping CO detector to inside my car’s trunk. It will stay there until I figure out how to open the battery compartment. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/51 "2019-12-17T11:39:43Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > “violent automobile collision”. I was in a serious car crash a few years ago, one that involved several seconds of out-of-control high speed with full knowledge that a hard impact was going to happen in the very near future (which it did). No injuries, but all that adrenaline left an imprint on my brain and now I find the sounds of car crashes to be very unsettling, far more so than it used to be. This includes footage on the evening news of cars crashing in inclement weather, as well as in-car footage of crashes during auto races. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/52 "2019-12-17T18:32:05Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > The chirp chirp of some detector. A couple weeks ago I was having terrible knee pain and it really hurt to walk. I was awoken by chirp chirping at 5 a.m. (of course). I had to hobble around the house first making sure nothing was on fire and then trying to determine which detector was chirping. It was the CO detector. I got the step stool to get it down thinking it needed batteries. According to the instructions on the back, it was telling me it was at the end of its life. So the next day I had to hobble through Lowe’s to get a new one. > > Anyway, those chirps always panic me when they wake me up. And it seems they almost always go off in the middle of the night. I _know_ if it was a real emergency, they wouldn’t just be intermittently chirping but that sudden waking from sleep throws me off. I hate those sounds. My neighbor is very hard of hearing and NEVER hears the “battery change” chirp so it goes on for weeks and I can hear the fucking thing two houses away. Eventually I catch her at home and tell her to change the damned battery but it usually takes her another couple weeks to get around to it and meanwhile I’m hearing CHIRP…CHIRP…CHIRP…CHIRP…CHIRP every few minutes and it drives me NUTS. Gods help her if the thing ever goes off for real, hope she can hear THAT. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/53 "2019-12-18T14:36:43Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > “violent automobile collision”. I had an uncle who referred to that as “a very expensive noise.” ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/54 "2019-12-18T14:47:05Z")
The popping sound of light bulbs breaking, followed by the tinkling of glass shards. Most cringe inducing. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/55 "2019-12-18T17:28:22Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > My neighbor is very hard of hearing and NEVER hears the “battery change” chirp so it goes on for weeks and I can hear the fucking thing two houses away. Eventually I catch her at home and tell her to change the damned battery but it usually takes her another couple weeks to get around to it and meanwhile I’m hearing CHIRP…CHIRP…CHIRP…CHIRP…CHIRP every few minutes and it drives me NUTS. Gods help her if the thing ever goes off for real, hope she can hear THAT. Gaaaah. I am shuddering just thinking of that. That particular chirp hits one of my wrong-frequency buttons; anything that starts chirping in my house needs to be dealt with IMMEDIATELY. I’m very glad that I live far enough from my neighbors that I can’t hear whether their devices are chirping. I might just about hear a full scale alarm going off; though it might be a good idea if I did hear that, if they weren’t home to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/56 "2019-12-18T17:59:35Z")
I spent an extremely uncomfortable night in a lake cabin in New Hampshire once, listening to a fisher cat scream. It legit sounds like a woman or child being tortured. It even got hoarse eventually, just as a human would. God that was awful. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HrvdzCGjbzw/maxresdefault.jpg "Fisher Cat Sounds") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrvdzCGjbzw) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/57 "2019-12-18T18:25:33Z")
Yeah, the distinctive BANG or automobile engine blocks slapping together in a head-on. Shudder. Also, any heavy, reverberating THUD coming from another room a loved one just went into. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/58 "2019-12-18T18:29:12Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Not only did I not make it, but my bare foot squished down into the cat vomit.☹ AH!! LOL I’m convinced that they actually know where to barf so that you WILL step in it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/59 "2019-12-18T18:45:05Z")
The sound of the boiler pump, resonating throughout the entire building, as the sound travels along the pipes in the underfloor heating. It seems our apartment has it the worse, and it’s not priority, as the boiler is working. The other sound when someone loses tracion on ice and just spins and spins and spins and spins their tires. Argh! ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926/60 "2019-12-18T20:52:04Z")
Sitting in my man cave, enjoying a movie. Gee it must be pouring outside, that rain is really coming down hard. Sounds like a waterfall. Sounds like a waterfall. _Sounds like a waterfall_!!! Rush into the bathroom to see a gush of water streaming out of the ceiling. Turns out the washing machine (directly overhead in the main level laundry room) just kept filling and filling and filling… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sounds-you-dont-want-to-hear/844926.md?page=4)