# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 161
**Author:** ![LavenderMagnolia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@LavenderMagnolia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderMagnolia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3201 "2026-10-16T18:47:48Z")
Yes, as a response/answer, it does make sense. I was referring to people who suddenly begin a conversation or new subject with it. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3202 "2026-10-16T18:57:54Z")
> [@LavenderMagnolia](#): > > Yes, as a response/answer, it does make sense. I was referring to people who suddenly begin a conversation or new subject with it. Gotcha. That is weird. In that case, the only appropriate response for you is, “I actually couldn’t care less!” But I suppose that would be rude. Maybe just say it under your breath, then. 😉 ---
**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:** [October 16, 2026, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3203 "2026-10-16T18:59:46Z")
> [@LavenderMagnolia](#): > > I usually hear “jerk” as a term for a rude person, a bully, etc., but I think it used to mean that someone is being a wimp/pushover. Yes, the OED says that its original meaning was “an inept or pathetic person; a fool.” I guess that’s the sense used in the title of the Steve Martin film _The Jerk_, which otherwise never made sense to me, since Navin is not rude nor a bully. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3204 "2026-10-16T20:29:43Z")
Since you looked, does it mention when the meaning shift occurred? Or whether the “inept fool” meaning is still current? Point being was that 20 years ago, 50, or 250? I _think_ I recall my Dad using terms like “jerky kid” to describe the typical 8-15yo boy behavior of being silly and thoughtless and just doing dumb stuff without thinking. Despite the bad consequences that were completely foreseeable to any adult. His point wasn’t that the kid(s) were being mean or malicious. Just that they weren’t planning; they were just doing. Like a fool might. A 3yo’s largely absent mind in a 12yo body can do a lot of damage. ---
**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:** [October 16, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3205 "2026-10-16T21:14:51Z")
The OED lists both meanings under one heading, and doesn’t discuss them separately. Based on their citations, there was overlap during the 20th century; for example, they have a 1958 citation that clearly seems to use the later meaning (“If..the sponsors get eight letters saying that their comedian is an idiot, or a foul-mouthed jerk, they’re terrified.”), while a 1968 citation has the earlier meaning (“Let’s steal a car… It’s a beaut and some jerk’s left the keys in it.”) The _Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang_ likewise bundles both meanings into one heading: “a contemptible fool; dolt; (broadly) an offensive or worthless person”. They provide a wider array of citations that shows the later meaning already in use by 1938: “It’s easy enough to go around being a jerk if your father happens to be President of the United States.” OTOH, there’s an apparent use of the earlier meaning as late as 1994 (from _Friends_): “The jerk missed his flight.” ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3206 "2026-10-16T23:09:55Z")
> [@solost](#): > > In my defense, I think I at least use ‘actually’ in a way that makes linguistic sense. Just use “literally” instead of “actually” then everyone will know what you mean! 🙃 > [@solost](#): > > so eating a Greek salad full of nasty beets would be a surprising thing for me to do. Greek salads have beets? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2026, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3207 "2026-10-16T23:53:16Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > OTOH, there’s an apparent use of the earlier meaning as late as 1994 (from _Friends_): “The jerk missed his flight.” Mad Magazine’s Dave Berg used the earlier meaning in a “Lighter Side” comic about a passport photographer c. 1997 (“On the count of three…look like a jerk!”). ---
**Author:** ![LavenderMagnolia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@LavenderMagnolia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderMagnolia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3208 "2026-10-17T00:15:18Z")
I’ve re-read some of the _Goosebumps_ books because I have a young nephew now. They were written in the '90s, and characters sometimes use “jerk” in the “wimp” or “fool” sense. I think I also recall Marie on _Everybody Loves Raymond_ saying it once - she referred to herself as a “jerk” because she did something when Frank rudely told her to. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3209 "2026-10-17T00:58:04Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Just use “literally” instead of “actually” then everyone will know what you mean! 🙃 If I’ve heard this advice once, I’ve heard it _literally_ ten million times. > [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Greek salads have beets? Don’t they? At least, I think some type of Greek salad does. My wife makes what she calls a Greek salad, and it’s pretty much beets, lettuce, onion and feta cheese with Greek dressing out of a bottle. With an extra helping of beets. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3210 "2026-10-17T01:34:45Z")
oooo yikes beets have been mentioned, I see. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3211 "2026-10-17T03:04:23Z")
I use “apparently” too much. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3212 "2026-10-17T04:20:50Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Greek salads have beets? In a Greek Beet Salad aka Pantzarosalata. Not in the usual one with sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, green bell pepper, red onion, olives, and feta cheese. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3213 "2026-10-17T06:34:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > In a Greek Beet Salad One would expect beets to be an ingredient in a beet salad. In the US one would not normally call any beet salad a Greek **S** alad even if it was a Greek **s** alad. That’s because a Greek Salad as it is commonly known in the US doesn’t have beets in it. (Although maybe that’s a “No True Scotsman” kinda thing though?) ETA: It’s a little like calling Vermont White Cheddar cheese “American Cheese”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2026, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/3214 "2026-10-17T09:36:57Z")
There’s a Greek salad called > **[Greek Salad (Traditional Horiatiki Recipe) | The Mediterranean Dish](https://www.themediterraneandish.com/traditional-greek-salad-recipe/)** > > Greek salad, or Horiatiki, with feta, olives, bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, oil and vinegar in this traditional recipe. It contains no lettuce and no beets. I learned of it from a local restaurant that had it on their menu. I ordered it once expecting the US-typical “greek salad”. Nope. All the ingredients are good for me, but the whole effect wasn’t what I wanted and it made for a disappointing meal. Some days you’re adventurous, and some days you just want your expectations fulfilled. They later pulled it off their menu. I asked why. Answer: "Too many got sent back as ‘not what I wanted / expected’. " So no more Horiatiki salad there. Frankly it was a bit of a poor fit for the restaurant’s overall cuisine, but evidently some Greek person had a hand in menu selection and there it was. Until it wasn’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=160)