# Things that infuriate you well beyond their actual importance **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 4, 2024, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712 "2024-09-04T02:18:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 139
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2761 "2026-03-16T15:44:04Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > People typing ‘alot’ when they mean ‘a lot’. Yes I know language evolves and I am sure we could name historic examples where two words have become joined as one (‘another’?). To-day. (Do hyphenated words count?) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2762 "2026-03-16T17:34:56Z")
Minor thing that irritates me: Social media posts that start with “BREAKING:” when posting about some news story. Breaking means this story is unfolding right now, as we’re reporting it. I might not see your post until hours or possibly days after you posted it, when it’s no longer breaking. IMO calling a story “breaking news” only really makes sense for broadcast journalism. Honestly, I’m starting to wonder if the social media groups doing this think “breaking” means “Big, important story”. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2763 "2026-03-16T17:53:51Z")
Ooh, that reminds me! People in news stories are always “speaking out”, or “breaking their silence”. No, they’re just giving a fucking comment. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2764 "2026-03-16T18:04:39Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > People typing ‘alot’ when they mean ‘a lot’. I used to have a T-shirt from Hyperbole and a Half that said, “I care about this alot.” Basically whenever they read “alot” they assumed it was an adorable creature called an alot. Alots remind me a lot of the flying buffalo in Avatar. > **[The Alot | Know Your Meme](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-alot)** > > The Alot is a fictional mammalian creature with brown fur invented by Allie Brosh, the creator of the webcomic Hyperbole and a Half. The creature was inspi I’m a bit distressed to discover this a sixteen-year-old meme. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2765 "2026-03-16T22:37:43Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I’ll see your “alot” and raise you “alright”. Cambridge accepts “alright” as an alternative spelling but says “alot” is a misspelling. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2766 "2026-03-16T22:47:09Z")
I have accepted alright. It’s generally only used in casual contexts. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2767 "2026-03-16T23:24:44Z")
I started learning English 48 years ago. “Alright” has always been presented to me as a legit spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2768 "2026-03-16T23:30:50Z")
I’m a descriptivist anyway. But I admit alot makes me cringe. Well it used to, before that meme. Now it makes me chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2769 "2026-03-16T23:44:20Z")
Yeah. I’m also a descriptivist , and I don’t mind anybody writing “alot”. Maybe the word will go the way of “alright” and be accepted in the OED, I wouldn’t mind. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2770 "2026-03-17T02:41:49Z")
The OED is quite anti-precriptivist in its discussion of “alright”, but indeed does not have an entry for “alot” (except as an unrelated variant of “allot”). > The form alright is frequent, although more widespread in non-literary printed sources (e.g. newspapers and journals) than in literary texts. Compare the standard spellings of already adj. & adv., altogether adj., n., & adv., always adv. Although these analogues exist, the form is strongly criticized in the vast majority of usage guides, but without cogent reasons. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2771 "2026-03-17T14:15:57Z")
How about - awhile vs a while. Many people only use “awhile”. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2772 "2026-03-17T15:33:32Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > IMO calling a story “breaking news” only really makes sense for broadcast journalism. IMO broadcast news should quit using it as well, since it has lost all meaning. Every news story is BREAKING NEWS! ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2773 "2026-03-17T15:52:47Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > “To pay your bill online visit (some ver long URL This shit pisses me off so much. I work in software, mostly web. It is so unbelievably trivial to generate a unique “short url” in the style of, say [bitly.com](http://bitly.com), that is single click and allows a database lookup even before you have logged in so your bill is immediately available. You still need to prove credentials, but the data is by that stage in cache, so super-fast to provide. Some short-url providers even allow certain amount of customisation to make it even easier for the user to remember the link… (Aside, because I am in a multicultural country, one of my colleagues tasked with creating the code that generated the short-urls, needed to blacklist certain short words in 11 different languages… swear words mostly) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2774 "2026-03-17T16:39:50Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > OK, where’s the account number? I teach the bill, and finally find it. > Then it asks for your “Statement ID number.” Whenever I encounter this bullshit I just write the account number in a second time. It usually accepts that. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2775 "2026-03-17T17:51:01Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > IMO broadcast news should quit using it as well, since it has lost all meaning. Every news story is BREAKING NEWS! In a similar vein, every sale is a BLOWOUT!! What the hell does that even mean? I think the pinnacle was reached when an apartment complex put up a banner sign offering a discount on your first month’s rent and called it a Blowout. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2776 "2026-03-17T19:55:03Z")
Speaking of sales – “Save up to 70% or more!” So, you might save potentially any amount between 0%-100%. That statement give you literally no information about the actual discount. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2777 "2026-03-18T07:27:22Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > How about - awhile vs a while. Many people only use “awhile”. I’ve noticed this a fair few times on the SDMB, so I assume it’s a US thing. Can’t say I’ve noticed it on UK-based sites. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2778 "2026-03-18T08:19:35Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I’ll see your “alot” and raise you “alright”. “Alright”, while still considered somewhat informal, has a legacy going back at least to the 19th century, and in some form, arguably back as far as the Middle English of the 12th century, and is paralleled by other forms like “altogether” and “already” and similar blend words. Whereas “alot”, as amply illustrated on other threads on this board, is a noun that designates a scraggly gnome-like creature often kept as a pet. So when someone says “I like this alot”, they are expressing affection for their pet alot. They hopefully keep their alot well fed and well supplied with loving skritches. ETA: I see that @Spice_Weasel has kindly **[provided an illustration here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2764)** of a typical alot! 🙂 > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Ooh, that reminds me! People in news stories are always “speaking out”, or “breaking their silence”. No, they’re just giving a fucking comment. Many of them are also “reaching out”. Damn, I hate that annoyingly meaningless expression. I feel like saying “keep your damned hands to yourself!” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2779 "2026-03-18T11:31:12Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Many of them are also “reaching out”. But have you noticed that those people no longer seem to “share” whatever mundane preoccupation is on their mind ---
**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:** [March 18, 2026, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/2780 "2026-03-18T13:36:22Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Alright is a word and it doesn’t look wrong to me. > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Cambridge accepts “alright” as an alternative spelling > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I have accepted alright. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > “Alright” has always been presented to me as a legit spelling. > [@markn\_1](#): > > The OED is quite anti-precriptivist in its discussion of “alright” > [@wolfpup](#): > > “Alright”, while still considered somewhat informal, has a legacy going back at least to the 19th century, I don’t give a good goddamn who thinks “alright” is all right, this thread is entitled “Things that infuriate you beyond their actual importance,” and “alright” does. And none of you or your cites is going to stop me feeling that “alright” is ALL WRONG! Now get off my lawn, you young whippersnappers! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=138) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=140)