# Tiny things that annoy & irritate to a far greater degree than they should... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 31, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986 "2011-12-31T22:26:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/141 "2012-01-06T19:03:29Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I trundle them back to the store whenever I come across one that’s been abandoned, but **I feel like hanging a sign on it that says, “Returning it to the store - I’m not the asshole that stole it.”** You better – or one of these day’s, you will get arrested for being in possession of it! You might anyway, even with the sign. Oh, here’s another thang that frosts me: News articles that indiscriminately use _stanch_ and _staunch_ interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/142 "2012-01-06T19:15:18Z")
For some reason, I get really upset over elevator etiquette (or rather the lack thereof). When I see people barge into an elevator as soon as the doors open without giving people time to get out, whether I’m in the elevator in question or not, it makes me want to yank them out of the elevator by the collar. You let people out before you go in that way, there’s plenty of room and nobody has to get in anyone’s way. It isn’t complicated. Similarly, I despise people who are going to one of the building’s upper floors and decide to stand right in front of the doors so the people going to for lower floors have to ask them to move or push past. Why on earth do you feel the need to stand in everyone’s way? It isn’t like you don’t know people will need to get by you; you’re going to the top floor and the buttons are lit for several floors below yours. Finally, there’s the tried and true people who take the elevator to go up or down one floor. I know my reaction to this is completely irrational. I really do. Anyone could have a problem taking the stairs (and I, having had intermittent knee problems since my teens, am a prime example) but it still drives me up the wall when people who aren’t obviously disabled in some way use the elevator for one-floor trips. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/143 "2012-01-07T01:15:50Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > You better – or one of these day’s, you will get arrested for being in possession of it! You might anyway, even with the sign.\ I never thought of that - I suppose I’ll just leave them alone in the future then. Crap. Hey, can I get deputized from the store to collect them or something? I’d totally do that! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/145 "2012-01-07T08:47:50Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I never thought of that - I suppose I’ll just leave them alone in the future then. Crap. Hey, can I get deputized from the store to collect them or something? I’d totally do that! There are people that do that, actually. Skulk around town, with an old beat-up pickup truck, collecting stray carts that have lost their way, and returning them. I suppose they get paid some kind of bounty for every cart they bring back. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/146 "2012-01-07T08:50:38Z")
Spam reported (post #144) Speaking of little things that annoy, that. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/147 "2012-01-07T08:51:53Z")
And another tiny annoyance: People who begin a sentence with “And” even when there was nothing in particular preceding that to warrant beginning with “And”. And how may I help you today? ---
**Author:** ![boyhowdy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@boyhowdy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boyhowdy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/148 "2012-01-07T11:29:07Z")
“Going forward”, “orientate” and innumerable others I can’t recall at the moment. Ditto the limp-dick handshakes; females get these more often than males, I’m convinced. So skveevy. And yes, I offer a good firm grasp. C’mon, you’re not going to injure my hand. Co-workers who consistently (try to, hah!) push their work off on me but I guess everyone shares that one. Oooh, and the car passing me to dart in front to grab a small space and then SLOWS DOWN. Justifiable homicide, I say. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/149 "2012-01-07T13:38:14Z")
> [@boyhowdy](#): > > Ditto the limp-dick handshakes; females get these more often than males, I’m convinced. So skveevy. And yes, I offer a good firm grasp. How 'bout those damp curved hand fingertip shakes, where you’re not sure for a moment if he’s going to shake your hand or kiss it like you’re Queen Elizabeth? Ick. Here’s a clue, guys: we don’t present our hand for kisses anymore. Haven’t in any of your lifetimes, unless you were on a stage wearing tights. And the corollary…WOMEN, stop offering your hand with the back side up. Thumb up. It confuses the men, otherwise, and trains them all wrong. (That being said, I have warm damp hands almost all the time, and I’m so sorry. They are just like that, despite the fact that I wash them at least 50 times a day. I can’t make a decent pie crust 'cause of it, and I dread handshakes. OTOH, my patients love my warm paws!) **boyhowdy** , my office manager goes one worse: “Orientated”. _shudder_ [I know it’s not technically incorrect](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ori1.htm), but it makes me stabby. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/150 "2012-01-07T13:55:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Oh, here’s another thang that frosts me: News articles that indiscriminately use _stanch_ and _staunch_ interchangeably. Hone in vs. home in. Chomping at the bit vs. champing at the bit. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/151 "2012-01-07T16:53:38Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > People with car alarms, and especially the ones who set them with a pants-filling HONK! just as I walk by the car. Like friggin’ nails on the friggin’ chalkboard. To be fair, most of the time it’s not a car alarm, that’s just the remote lock/unlock that comes built in with the car…and yeah, they could use the key, except I know of more than a few cars that don’t like it when you use the key instead of the remote lock/unlock…they let you do it a few times before locking you out, or alarming, or something…because only a thief would use the key, not the remote? 😕 I don’t understand it, but it’s sort of a necessity now…I just wish car makers would stop having it honk for remote lock/unlock…just flash the lights, that’s all that’s needed. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/152 "2012-01-07T19:10:58Z")
Oh - my car has a remote lock, and it doesn’t honk - like you say, the lights just flash. That’s why I thought if it was honking, it was an alarm. Well, in that case, the manufacturers can damned well knock it off with the honking to lock/unlock a car - it’s not necessary, and it’s quite annoying. ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/153 "2012-01-08T04:40:30Z")
What about the opposite of the limp dick handshake? The vice grip, squeezing my knuckle bones ‘til they crack, excessively macho handshake of death. It’s almost always men who do this and they look you in the eye smugly. Ow! Whatta ya tryin’ to prove buddy? Are these the type of guys who get a power trip over kicking puppies? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/154 "2012-01-08T07:22:06Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > Hone in vs. home in. Chomping at the bit vs. champing at the bit. “I have a pit in my stomach” - no, you have \*a sick feeling **in the** pit of \*your stomach. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/155 "2012-01-08T08:12:46Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > “I have a pit in my stomach” - no, you have \*a sick feeling **in the** pit of \*your stomach. “My cat really loves to be pet.” No, your cat loves to be _petted_. Perhaps she loves being your pet too, but I don’t think that was what you were trying to get across. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/156 "2012-01-08T14:54:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > one of these day’s, you will get arrested :mad: Mine is people who believe stupid stuff- things that don’t affect me at all, but the very fact that they think this rubbish makes me furious. For example, a gardening forum I post on has a whole section on [biodynamics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture) and moon planting. I could just ignore it, and follow the other advice on there, which is usually quite good, but no. I have to read the woo. And it makes me angry. ---
**Author:** ![MizQuirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@MizQuirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizQuirk)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/157 "2012-01-08T17:10:49Z")
Oh, I’ve got so-o-o-o-o many! The use of ‘and’ or ‘&’ in front of “etc.” The ‘and’ is included in “etc.,” so ‘and etc.’ and ‘& etc.’ are both wrong. And then there’s the irritation of sometimes not being able to get ahold of a lone, thin piece of paper in order to turn the page, especially if it’s in the midst of an exciting story. I’m sure this is caused by my old, gnarly fingers with too-dry skin, but I refuse to lick my finger to turn a page. (I read a lot of library books and you never know how unsanitary they might be.) ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/158 "2012-01-08T19:05:10Z")
Eating with plastic utensils or drinking out of a plastic cup. Everything justs tastes cheap. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/159 "2012-01-09T00:37:27Z")
Cigarette smokers. Not the smoking so much, but that ritual of pounding the pack with one hand into the palm of the other. It’s always in triplets. Bap-Bap-BAP! Bap-Bap-BAP! Bap-Bap-BAP! And they always offer the same moronic excuse for why they are doing this: that it “packs the tobacco”. Bap-Bap-BAP! Bap-Bap-BAP! Bap-Bap-BAP! Bap-Bap-BAP! As if the cigarette makers didn’t already do that. If it were true, there would be a noticeable shortening of the amount of tobacco in the cigarette - a bit of extra paper hanging out, which would of course be crushed down by the… Bap-Bap-BAP! Bap-Bap-BAP! They don’t know why they are doing it. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/160 "2012-01-09T02:39:07Z")
Another thing that just makes my BP go up … people who name their kids stupid names. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986/161 "2012-01-09T02:52:24Z")
Like ‘Blue Ivy’ Carter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tiny-things-that-annoy-irritate-to-a-far-greater-degree-than-they-should/607986.md?page=9)