# 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:** 99
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1961 "2025-07-24T14:55:16Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > And in clothes of a visible color I had about a dozen identical bright orange shirts that I wore while running, and only did so during daylight hours. Nobody could ever claim I was not visible–they could say they didn’t see me but not because I didn’t make an effort to be visible. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1962 "2025-07-24T14:59:55Z")
Yup. That qualifies as doing it right. Says the person who’s more than once just barely seen, at the last possible moment, someone in dark clothes at twilight. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1963 "2025-07-24T15:55:26Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > A similar irritant : “curated”, meaning “collected”, “organised” or “presented”. You’re not a museum expert. I hate “bespoke,” but “curated” I quite like it, and your synonyms don’t quite have that same feel of something that is looked over and carefully picked out as opposed to assembled in a slapdash manner. Like: “Here’s a playlist curated for your tastes in post-punk” or something like that. I supposed “carefully selected” works there, but why use two words when one does the job just fine? ---
**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:** [July 24, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1964 "2025-07-24T16:17:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I supposed “carefully selected” works there, but why use two words when one does the job just fine? I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, probably in this thread, but that is something that mildly annoys me: needlessly wordy phrases. “At this time” – “Now” does the job just as well. “Years of age” – Why not just say “years old”? Why use three words when two work just as well, and sounds more natural to boot. “How come?” – “Why?” works just as well. Again, why use two words when one works just as well. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1965 "2025-07-24T16:20:58Z")
Can I include “utilizing” when “use” would suffice in this complaint? ---
**Author:** ![Tokushizu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Tokushizu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tokushizu)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1966 "2025-07-24T16:47:03Z")
I saw three other replies with those posters dislikes of similar words with no mention of “artisanal”. To me, that overused word is just as annoying as the words that other people mentioned. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1967 "2025-07-24T18:34:35Z")
I get annoyed by the misuse of the word “predict”. To me, that word predict implies the person has some actual knowledge that allows them to figure out what’s likely to happen in the future. A meteorologist predicts the weather by collecting lots of data and analyzing to figure out what the weather will likely be five days from now. A political analyst might be able to predict the result of an election by analyzing polling data. Someone who wrote a joke in their friend’s yearbook back in the 1990s about the Cubs winning the World Series in 2016 didn’t _predict_ the result of the World Series. All they did was pick a random year that at the time seemed far in the future, and that year coincidentally turned out to be correct. That was a lucky guess, not a prediction. Likewise, The Simpsons didn’t _predict_ the Trump presidency. They just made a joke about him being president in the future because it seemed so absurd at the time, and in a weird coincidence he actually became president. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2025, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1968 "2025-07-24T18:40:29Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Someone who wrote a joke in their friend’s yearbook back in the 1990s about the Cubs winning the World Series in 2016 didn’t _predict_ the result of the World Series. All they did was pick a random year that at the time seemed far in the future, and that year coincidentally turned out to be correct. To me, that qualifies as a prediction. It doesn’t have to be based on anything rational, in my opinion. How else would you characterize a statement that says “XXX will happen in the future.” Sure, it’s a lucky guess. Sure, it’s a joke. But it’s a joke prediction that turned out to be right. That person predicted the Cubs would win in 2016, even if in jest. I think of what meteorolgists do more as “forecasting” than “predicting,” but they’re virtually synonymous. The Simpsons one I wouldn’t necessarily characterize as a prediction, though. But language is malleable enough that I’d allow it. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1969 "2025-07-24T19:07:36Z")
And remember in 1976 Archie Bunker yelled at his son-in-law “And you’re gonna get Reagan in 1980 buddy”. Sounded like a prediction to me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1970 "2025-07-24T21:11:48Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > More important, it is smoother. Sidewalk is full of cracks, both intentional and unintentional (tree roots and such). I see a lot of crack in the asphalt also. Not to mention, very very few cars drive on the sidewalk. > [@minor7flat5](#): > > Proper road-running is done on the asphalt shoulder, facing traffic, so you can hop out of the way when danger approaches. If there is a shoulder. But around here i see walker walk on the outside of parked cars. > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > And in clothes of a visible color, and if after dark with lights or at least bright reflectors. Right. Not black or dark grey and keep your nose out of your cell phone. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1971 "2025-07-24T21:51:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I see a lot of crack in the asphalt also. Not to mention, very very few cars drive on the sidewalk. You may see cracks in the asphalt, but if you were to regularly run on both surfaces the difference would be clear. At least in New Jersey, after many thousands of miles running on urban and suburban roads, I can assure you that the cracks on the sidewalks are far more common and more dangerous than those on the asphalt. And the cars? That’s why you run facing traffic! ---
**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:** [July 24, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1972 "2025-07-24T21:59:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I see a lot of crack in the asphalt also. Yeah, those little plastic bags leak sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1973 "2025-07-25T15:33:18Z")
Sometimes my father drives me batty when I’m explaining something, a system, a process, how things work etc. He’ll paraphrase what I just said, or rather, what he _thinks_ I said, but using different words, but changing the meaning of what I had said, and prefaces it with “_So in essence, what your saying is…_” No, it’s not in essence: it’s the bare knuckled facts, exactly as I relayed them. 🤬 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1974 "2025-07-26T01:14:19Z")
Hyphenated surnames. Pick one! Or make up a new one! ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1975 "2025-07-26T13:58:41Z")
I get really steamed up at people releasing a lot of helium balloons at memorial services and commemorative events. “We’re sending Jim to heaven with these balloons!” F\*\*\* you. I weep for wildlife when I see this. The perpetrators are oblivious. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1976 "2025-07-26T16:37:24Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t mind “bespoke” if it’s used properly, but I’ve never seen it used properly in an ad - and I kind of can’t imagine how it could be. “Bespoke” doesn’t just mean “custom” or “tailored” - for example, in clothing it means that there is no pre-existing pattern, while “made to measure” means a pre-existing pattern is altered to fit the customer and both are different from off-the rack clothing that has been altered to fit the customer. Oh, hey, i have a bespoke contra skirt. I gave the fabric to the tailor, who had a lot of experience making costumes but not making skirts, and discussed what i wanted in a skirt, and he made me a skirt with deep double pockets on each side (one zipped, one open) and a lot of swirly fabric. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1977 "2025-07-26T17:11:56Z")
White toenail polish. Apparently someone dropped a bottle of correct fluid on your feet. Nobody looks good with white toenails. ---
**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:** [July 26, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1978 "2025-07-26T18:24:11Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I get really steamed up at people releasing a lot of helium balloons at memorial services and commemorative events. Even worse are those “sky lanterns” carrying lit candles. “We’re starting a wildfire in memory of Jim!” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1979 "2025-07-26T19:18:36Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > weep for wildlife when I see this. The perpetrators are oblivious. Good point. Especially the Mylar ones. > [@markn\_1](#): > > Even worse are those “sky lanterns” carrying lit candles. “We’re starting a wildfire in memory of Jim!” Yep. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712/1980 "2025-07-27T11:51:22Z")
Wow, i have never seen that! What am incredibly stupid idea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=98) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-infuriate-you-well-beyond-their-actual-importance/1006712.md?page=100)