There are many contenders. A little girls piercing scream and yodelling would certainly be in the running.
However, I get an almost uncontrollable urge to punch someone who “sighs” in my presence. It contains elements of self-centeredness, condescension, laziness, and prissiness all rolled up into one little sound.
*Please note that I have never hit someone who sighed although I have had to leave the room because someone did it multiple times.
I would say the sound of a crying baby, multiplied by the situation. The sound isn’t so much annoying is that it makes it difficult to concentrate on anything else being said or done; it’s a beacon.
A close second is
“Then after that MOM we went to MOM the grocery MOM store and bought MOM the kids MOM! some school MOM! supplies MO-OO-OMMM. I got MO-OO-MMMMM Joey MOM! some new MOM! hush, I’m on the phone MOM! I’ll be MOM! with you in a MOM! second…”
Okay. For real? I’d have to opine that the most annoying sound is the sound of a child who gets hooked into a feedback loop despite the parent’s attempts to curb it. As in:
There’s a certain voice, I’m not sure how to decribe it…
I often associate it with gay men, but not knowing or caring what orientation these abrasive people are, I could be mistaken. But it’s a very effeminate, nasally, resonant voice. It’s the resonant part that gets me. It somehow seems to fill a room with ease, and seems to be of the exact acoustical nature so as to rattle the wall hangings. As well as my nerves.
Anyone know what I’m talking about? Anyone who can describe it better?
I’ll go for the fish-market voice/tone/cadence that some women use - to me it’s the vocal equivalent of wearing curlers and a bathrobe in public. Yuck.
Another one that bugs me is the way some people ask questions. When most people ask a question, their voices rise slightly in pitch towards the end. It’s the people whose voice lowers in pitch instead that make me want to punch walls. See the movie Butterflies Are Free for a grating example of this.
In no way is this meant facetiously - “Nucular.” Mind you, I do hate Dubya but even if it were Jeff Goldblum saying it, I’d scream and turn off the radio. I would love for NPR to start bleeping it out.
Screaming. Any kind of screaming, by persons of either sex*, regardless of age. If there’s enough screaming in a movie or TV show, I have to turn it off. I very nearly boycotted Farscape when that horrible screaming creature (Jool) joined the cast.
Whining is a close second.
*However, I’ll admit that one of my favorite bits is when a tough manly-man unexpectedly screams like a little girl for comedic effect. Just one short scream, though. But it makes me laugh just about every time.
Some voices have a piercing tone that’s extremely annoying to me. For example, there’s someone at work with a voice like that. It’s not the volume, it’s just something about it that sometimes just feels like a knife going through my brain. My mother’s voice occasionally sounded that way, too. (Don’t call Dr. Freud.)
This week, it’s definitely, “Mama? Mama? Mama? (whining about being in the carseat too long) Mama? Mama? Mama? MAMA?! . . . Shoes! Mama, mama? Mama? Ma-MA! Mama! . . . eyes! . . .” ad infinitum. I’m thinking of buying a little ticker to count the number of times I hear “Mama” each day.
Really, underneath, I love that she loves me so much and wants my attention, and that she’s talking more. But sometimes, that underneath stuff gets obscured by the part of me that really needs some hard liquor after a day with her.