# Very Minor Things That REALLY Annoy You?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 28, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328 "2009-01-28T01:36:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/1 "2009-01-28T01:36:32Z")
Other than typing in all caps…LOL
On Saturday I went to they gym and I guess I left my lock there. Anyway it’s gone. Now I have to buy another. This of course is a minor thing, but it REALLY BUGS ME.
:mad:
I’ve had the same combo lock since 2001 and now I’ll have to learn a whole new combination.
So what kind of really trivial unimportant things really irk you to no earth’s ends?
---
### Author:  [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/2 "2009-01-28T01:38:52Z")
When my coworker says her “husband” rather than using his name.
I know him. I have worked with him many times. So has everyone else in the room.
Just use his name dammit.
---
### Author:  [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/3 "2009-01-28T01:40:27Z")
When people ignore me because they’re engaged in something. If I come up to you and say, “Hi, friend, can you take a look at this?” and you give absolutely no response, I’m going to think you didn’t hear me. Is what you’re working on so friggin’ important that you can’t even pause to say, “Hold on, I’ll be with you in a second”?
I have a friend who does this, and every time it makes me want to punch him in the mouth.
---
### Author:  [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/4 "2009-01-28T02:09:34Z")
> [@Ludy](#):
>
> When my coworker says her “husband” rather than using his name.
> I know him. I have worked with him many times. So has everyone else in the room.
> Just use his name dammit.
I used to work with someone who did this, and yes, it drove me nuts. But she would say it “My Husband.” I could actually hear the caps, I could.
---
### Author:  [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buckler_of_Swashing)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/5 "2009-01-28T02:11:13Z")
People who seem to operate on the premise that they, personally, never mishear or misspeak or misunderstand and that in any situation involving a miscommunication, their memory of it is the default correct memory unless you can PROVE otherwise.
You can’t ever tell these people that you’re sure you heard them say ‘black’ when they meant to say ‘blue’, because they remember saying ‘blue’ and you can’t get them to concede that everybody misspeaks/mishears sometimes and its at least equally as likely that your memory of the situation is correct as theirs is. To end the discussion, you have to admit that your memory is fallible, but they don’t.
It’s a very small thing, but I hate being instantly assigned blame over such a small thing just to maintain someone’s ego when it could just as easily have been shrugged off with 'I guess one of us must have made a mistake".
I know several people like this. Grrr.
---
### Author:  [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/6 "2009-01-28T02:21:42Z")
Retailers or service people who take your number so they can ring you when the order’s in or job’s done - then don’t freaking call because they “knew you’d show up soon anyway”.
“Soon” being _four months_ in the case of a necklace that they couldn’t repair - I got it done in two days somewhere else. To be clear, I’d been in twice asking about it and been told there was a slight delay each time. After the second visit they took my number and said they’d call.
“Soon” being four hours after the car was due to have been fixed and two hours after I’d called for an update. I missed an appointment that I would have got to - if I’d been called when the car was actually ready.
And all the other "We’ll call you"s - I’m not some freaking bad date you’re trying to avoid, I’m (I was) a paying customer damnit!
---
### Author:  [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/7 "2009-01-28T02:49:33Z")
One of my sisters refers to all of our family members as mine: “your father”, “your grandmother”, “your uncle.”
They’re your family too, dammit. Just say Grandma, Dad or Uncle X.
---
### Author:  [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/8 "2009-01-28T02:57:21Z")
> [@Buckler\_of\_Swashing](#):
>
> People who seem to operate on the premise that they, personally, never mishear or misspeak or misunderstand and that in any situation involving a miscommunication, their memory of it is the default correct memory unless you can PROVE otherwise.
>
> You can’t ever tell these people that you’re sure you heard them say ‘black’ when they meant to say ‘blue’, because they remember saying ‘blue’ and you can’t get them to concede that everybody misspeaks/mishears sometimes and its at least equally as likely that your memory of the situation is correct as theirs is. To end the discussion, you have to admit that your memory is fallible, but they don’t.
>
> It’s a very small thing, but I hate being instantly assigned blame over such a small thing just to maintain someone’s ego when it could just as easily have been shrugged off with 'I guess one of us must have made a mistake".
>
> I know several people like this. Grrr.
This one of the reasons that my ex-wife now has the prefix “ex” in front of her name. :rolleyes:
---
### Author:  [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/9 "2009-01-28T03:02:49Z")
When someone is trying to “fix” their computer and keeps trying the same solution upwards of ten times\*.
Me to my mom: “Oh, I’ve had this issue before, try \”
_Doesn’t work_
Me: “Okay, that’s not working.”
Mom: “Wait, let me try it again…”
It makes it worse that no matter who it is they always seem to get, not exactly offended, but somewhat flustered when you try and step in to try another solution like it was finally going to WORK this time and you were ruining their victory moment to steal it for yourself, or something.
\*I don’t mind trying it again once or twice because sometimes settings don’t stick, or you misclicked, or something.
---
### Author:  [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/10 "2009-01-28T03:06:45Z")
> [@Ludy](#):
>
> When my coworker says her “husband” rather than using his name.
> I know him. I have worked with him many times. So has everyone else in the room.
> Just use his name dammit.
Did she get married for the first time in her 40s? I have a friend who does this and I think she just likes being able to say “My husband” at every opportunity.
---
### Author:  [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/11 "2009-01-28T03:12:21Z")
I get find it _very_ off-putting when someone has the sole of one or more feet pointed toward me, even though I’ve never heard of that being a big deal in western culture.
---
### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/12 "2009-01-28T03:40:47Z")
> [@Jragon](#):
>
> When someone is trying to “fix” their computer and keeps trying the same solution upwards of ten times\*.
>
> Me to my mom: “Oh, I’ve had this issue before, try \”
> _Doesn’t work_
> Me: “Okay, that’s not working.”
> Mom: “Wait, let me try it again…”
A computer programmer, an mechanic and a physicist are in a car going down a hill when the brakes stop working and they hit a tree at the bottom. Wondering what’s wrong the mechanic climbs under the car and starts inspecting the brake system. The physicist flips over an envelope and starts running equations involving friction and the boiling point of DOT3 brake fluid, the computer programmer says “let’s push it back up to the top and see if it happens again.”
---
### Author:  [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/13 "2009-01-28T04:21:31Z")
> [@SpazCat](#):
>
> One of my sisters refers to all of our family members as mine: “your father”, “your grandmother”, “your uncle.”
>
> They’re your family too, dammit. Just say Grandma, Dad or Uncle X.
Not quite the same but very close.
My parents divorced when I was about 13 yrs old. After the divorce, they always referred to each other as “your Father” or “your Mother”. I really don’t know what the proper protocol is, but it really irritated me when mom would say “you should call your Father” or Dad would say “give this to your Mother.” It sounds petty now that i am 48 yrs old, but I hated it when I was a kid.
---
### Author:  [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/14 "2009-01-28T05:02:54Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#):
>
> Did she get married for the first time in her 40s? I have a friend who does this and I think she just likes being able to say “My husband” at every opportunity.
She is 24 and was calling him her husband before they were even married.
---
### Author:  [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/15 "2009-01-28T05:11:25Z")
Brands with random capitalization. Like PowerAde.
Also, there’s this guy at my gym who went and changed the combination to his lock. Now I’ll have to bring my own $2 every time I work out so I can buy a PowerAde after I work out.
---
### Author:  [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/16 "2009-01-28T05:44:51Z")
> [@chacoguy420](#):
>
> This one of the reasons that my ex-wife now has the prefix “ex” in front of her name. :rolleyes:
She goes by ex-Mary Smith?
---
### Author:  [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/17 "2009-01-28T05:52:12Z")
> [@Ludy](#):
>
> When my coworker says her “husband” rather than using his name.
> I know him. I have worked with him many times. So has everyone else in the room.
> Just use his name dammit.
Oops, I do this (“my wife”, though). ☹
To be fair, though, I didn’t start that way. I used to always say “Gargoylette…” only to have my coworkers always say “Who?” and then I have to clarify “My wife…”. No matter how often I used her name, it was always “who?”. I got weary of it, and figured that my coworkers are a non-personal relationships anyway that I don’t socialize with outside of work and apparently can’t be bothered to remember my wife’s name, so I may as well keep it just as a sanitized “My wife…”
---
### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/18 "2009-01-28T06:11:38Z")
You’re all pikers at this game - did you not notice the OP asked for “very minor” irritations? Your complaints are not anywhere near insignificant enough. You must bow before the superior, well-exercised skills of wealthy expatriates in developing countries, for whom detailing the trivial imperfections of household staff is a major form of recreation. Behold:
My maid has a strange new habit, which is to unroll the toilet paper from its spindle until it drags on the floor. I guess this is so that while my Royal Butt is on the toilet, I won’t have to work very hard to grab it (the toilet paper I mean, not my ass).
Also, something … _happens_ … when my bras are laundered.
---
### Author:  [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/19 "2009-01-28T06:14:22Z")
When you’re walking on the sidewalk, and two people are coming towards you, and the inside person closest to you won’t lean or walk single file or get out of your way. This inside person is ALWAYS a woman, usually young. Guys never do this because bumping into another guy can start a fight, but women haven’t figured this out. I honestly don’t think it ever crosses their minds. You get half of the sidewalk, ladies. If someone is coming from the other direction, you don’t make that person jump into a tree or the street just because you’re special and the conversation you’re having is so important, even if you’re walking with the love of your life and having some kind of special moment. Get out of the way. I will give you a withering stare if it doesn’t look like you’re going to move, and I will bump you out of the way if you seem like a self-important twat. Only old women and children get a pass.
---
### Author:  [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328/20 "2009-01-28T06:30:22Z")
When my mom plucks her chin hairs…drives me NUTS.
And the sound of someone clipping their finger/toenails.
I’ve been known to completely lose my temper over those two things and everyone thinks I’m being unreasonable. No, they’re being unreasonable by not listening to me and just STOP IT.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-minor-things-that-really-annoy-you/483328.md?page=2)