Pet Peeves: Aka Things That Make You Go "Gah!"

[JTMacc99]

Actually, a two-minute race, give or take - so roughly double the outrage.

Okay, fair enough, but I kind of love the Kentucky Derby. I generally don't care about horse racing at all, even for one second, the rest of the year. But the build up to the Kentucky Derby starts for me about five weeks ahead when I first learn the names of the horses to watch that year as they run the last set of races. Then about a week ahead of the race, I print out some stuff similar to a daily racing form and start to form an opinion. Depending on what I'm doing, I might get a chance to listen to some sports radio that Friday, and they'll have the horse racing experts chime in. I'll call my dad and see who he likes in the race and tell him what I think. Then I'll go Saturday morning or Friday afternoon over to OTB and place my annual $20 bet on the race. I will probably turn on the TV about 20 minutes before the race, and then 2 minutes later, more often than not, I'm super disappointed that I somehow managed to get the 1st and 3rd place horses in my trifecta bet, and my other horse finished 5th.  SO CLOSE.  Almost every year this happens.

 

Which leads me to a question:  why did the Grinch lick his fingers before unscrewing the Who lightbulbs?  Wouldn't that just make them more slippery?

I'm going with the Leidenfrost effect. Because I am a nerd and also an idiot who likes to say stupid things.

[DeLurker]

I lurve you for citing Leidenfrost (which is a fun word to say in my head).

[Qoass]

Okay, I confess I've never seen Leidenfrost so I had no idea what the Leidenfrost Effect was.

Edited March 2, 2016 by Qoass

[GHScorpiosRule]

I was just looking at the TV listings for this weekend (under 40 degrees out?  I'm staying in.) and it appears that my local PBS station will be having pledge week.  How can I tell?  One 90 minutes special after another about how to combat aging and weight gain and arthritis and debt.  I used to roll my eyes when they'd slap on all the music specials as if they ever ran that kind of thing when they weren't begging for money.  Now I'm a little weirded out that infomercials have invaded Downton Abbey!  Here's everything that's wrong with you-- stay tuned for advice on how to fix it without doing any actual work!  And donate now and we'll send you a book and a DVD of all the stuff we didn't tell you on the show!

 

 

Same here, plus the cryptic Members Choice plugged into several slots on the onscreen guide. I loathe the PBS station I'm sutck with (CPTV). I can only get the one station, none of their 3 or 4 additional flavors, and they repeatedly fuck up their own schedule--they say something is going to be on at a certain time overnight, I set the DVR, and inevitably something entirely different runs at that time. So fuck you, CPTV. I donate to NPR.

 

 

I've clearly accidentally taken some stupid pills because I have NO Idea what y'all are talking about.

[Qoass]

What's playing on my local public TV station this weekend:

 

Aging Backwards with Miranda Esmonde-White

Joy Bauer's From Junk Food to Joy Food

The Forever Wisdom of Dr. Wayne Dyer

21 Days to a Slimmer You with Dr. Kellyanne

Easy Yoga for Arthritis with Peggy Cappy

 

and that's just Saturday.

[auntlada]

They used to show good movies during the fundraising time or sometimes supersized versins of regular shows. Now they seem to show self-help shows but want you to give money for regular shows. I don't understand it.

[BooksRule]

On that note, I'm bothered by people leaving reasons for their absence in their out-of-office auto-reply emails. "I am out of the office, attending my great aunt Edna's funeral in Poughkeepsie. The restored barn in which we are holding the wake doesn't have WiFi, so I will reply to your email upon my return." The people reading work email are (should be) work contacts, not friends. Post your reason for leaving town on Facebook to your 1,000 closest friends. Your out-of-office auto-reply email should say you are out of the office, when you are returning, and who to contact in the meantime. Cripes.

 

That drives me crazy.  I work with a couple of people (at least it's not all of them) who do this.  They don't just say that they will be away from the office for a couple of hours.  They have to tell us that they will be out for a dentist appointment or to get their car fixed.  Who cares?  The only time I do that is when I have to be out with little notice--since we're supposed to give at least a week's notice when we're asking for personal leave except for emergencies--and I let my supervisor (or at least his assistant) know that I will be out for a 'personal reason'.  That's all they need to know. And one person always has to stop by the public service desk to let whoever is on duty know that he's going across campus for coffee and will be back in a few minutes.  Or, they send an e-mail that tells everyone that they will be out of the office meeting with Professor Whosiwhatsis for the next 45 minutes.  Again, who cares?  Another e-mail peeve I have is when people are out for a half day or less and they put one of those automatic reply messages on e-mail.  Even when they don't get personal with the excuse, they aren't going to be out long enough for me to have to deal with this automatic message popping up.  If I really need to know when someone will be back in the office (which is rare, I usually just leave an e-mail or voice mail message), I can check their calendar (if they've kept it up to date) to see their 'busy' blocks of time.  Again, that's all I see, because I don't want permission from them to see the entire calendar (which would include doctor's appointments and such).

Edited March 3, 2016 by BooksRule

[auntlada]

They've probably worked for bosses who had to know their every move, and now they're paranoid about not giving enough information.

 

I used to be that way about letting people see things I was working on because I had a boss or two who would look at works in progress and tell me what they would do if they were working on the photo, design, story, etc. And I could never tell them, "No, you wouldn't because you don't even know how to use this computer."

[BookWoman56]

They've probably worked for bosses who had to know their every move, and now they're paranoid about not giving enough information.

My former manager was one of those, and part of his official policy was that if you were going to be gone for 2 hours or more, you had to have both the email auto-reply and a voice mail response explaining that you were gone and when you would return, etc.

 

My standard auto-reply simply states the date(s) I will be out of the office, the point of contact in my absence, and a note that I will follow up as needed when I return. My colleagues in general do not need to know anything other than that. I did let a few colleagues know last week that I would be out this week for 3 days because of my eye surgery, but that was primarily as a heads up that if there were complications, I  could be out longer than expected, and to let a couple of colleagues know that although I had agreed to work on some items for them over the weekend prior to the surgery, since they did not get those items to me on time, I would not be able to get to them until after the surgery because, you know, if I can't see their documents, I can't review them. My manager has known for a couple of months about this round of surgery and the next one for next week, and she's really the only one who needed the details.

 

On top of the emails that tell the entire world why you are out of the office and the fascinating details of where  you will be, I hate the emails that then are sent giving a blow-by-blow account of someone's vacation, with multiple embedded photos, and the expectation that everyone on the team needs to ooooh and aaaah over them. A simple note that you're back from vacation and a link to photos if someone is interested is way more than sufficient.  I work with you;  you're not family or friends for whom I have some sort of grudging obligation to view your vacation photos and refrain from making snarky comments. If you mention you went to location ABC and I want to see your photos or know the details of your trip, then I will ask you. Otherwise, assume I'm not interested.

Edited March 3, 2016 by BookWoman56

[topanga]

 

Peeve - I hate when someone makes a typo and another poster "corrects" them without some effort at humor.  It just comes a cross as snotty and superior.

 

This is what a posted today on a show thread: 

 

I do hope the season gets renewed, just because it's nice to see a relatively diverse cast continue to work, but I won't be part of the audience.

 

And when someone quoted me, this is what they typed: 

 

 

I do hope the [series] gets renewed, just because it's nice to see a relatively diverse cast continue to work, but I won't be part of the audience.

You asshole! You knew what the hell I meant and that typing "season gets renewed" was simply an error. You obviously weren't confused, so why didn't you just quote my sentence as is?  I never correct simple spelling and grammar mistakes when I quote a post. If someone's quote is confusing, I'll ask for clarification. 

 

I give a pass to people who, as you said, DeLurker, make an attempt at humor. I'm even okay with a poster telling someone, "I hate to be picky, but the the country is 'Colombia' not 'Columbia.'" Otherwise, get off people's asses, okay?

[DeLurker]

When someone makes the effort to make a "correction" along that line, I normally think "jeez...what a weenie".

 

If you are a Grammar Nazi and own up to it, I don't get worked up.  I feel bad for some of them because I regularly throw the English language through a meat grinder.  It would be a full time job editing me.

[ABay]

I don't think you have to be a Grammar Nazi  to openly sneer at people who write would of, could of, or should of. But if you do, then sign me up, because that shit is fucked up right there.

[zxy556575]

I never correct simple spelling and grammar mistakes when I quote a post. If someone's quote is confusing, I'll ask for clarification.

 

I sometimes correct straight-up typos (like Parsi for Paris) when quoting, because I don't like it when my own mistakes get repeated. I never thought about people being pissed, so maybe I should stop.

[auntlada]

My coworker just asked if we know who the official candidates are yet for president. (She means the party nominees.) We told her no, that the conventions aren't until this summer. Then she wanted to know how come people were so upset about Trump then. I told her he has a lot of delegates, which she probably doesn't understand, but I didn't say it in a manner that invited further questions and conversation. I wanted to tell her to please look up the political process online and educate herself, but she would probably go to some crackpot site and learn stuff that isn't true. She is around 27 years old, so she should have some idea about how this works.

[DeLurker]

Tell her to watch Adam Ruins Everything:  Voting.

[Maharincess]

This is what a posted today on a show thread:

And when someone quoted me, this is what they typed:

You asshole! You knew what the hell I meant and that typing "season gets renewed" was simply an error. You obviously weren't confused, so why didn't you just quote my sentence as is? I never correct simple spelling and grammar mistakes when I quote a post. If someone's quote is confusing, I'll ask for clarification.

I give a pass to people who, as you said, DeLurker, make an attempt at humor. I'm even okay with a poster telling someone, "I hate to be picky, but the the country is 'Colombia' not 'Columbia.'" Otherwise, get off people's asses, okay?

There used to be a poster at TWoP called "imissethan" who used to correct everybody. Most of her posts started with the word "actually" and then she'd proceed to correct the comments.

I couldn't stand her for that reason and a few others.

I must admit though that I've tried to subtlety correct a poster here. Every damn time she posts she writes "should/could/would OF" instead of have. I would quote her and say something like "I agree, they really should have...".

Now I feel bad about it!

[GHScorpiosRule]

All of you know that if you looked up "Grammar Nazi" my picture would be there. IF you knew what I looked like, that is, heh.

I vent here, so that I don't lose my shit when I'm reading the same mistakes over and over again. Not just spelling of words or words like "should of" when it's "should HAVE" but, your, when it should be you're...you get the idea. But l also see a character or real life person's NAME being spelled wrong. When the synopsis states how it should be, instead of correcting, I read comments how x name is also spelled this way. Maybe so, but that's NOT the way THIS character or person's name is spelled. Like, for Pysch, the lead's name is spelled ShaWn. Not Shaun or Sean. On Sleepy Hollow, it's Abbie, not Abbey. And for Jeebus Cripes Sakes! It's Cochran! There is no 'e' at the end of his name.

But I keep my mouth shut, because I mentioned it once in one of those shows, but those who continue to misspell, are clearly ignoring me, so I have to let it go. And I didn't even bring up the mispelling. Someone else did. And for one of those names, I just commented, that I was thinking the same thing: Why the name was being misspelled.

What really gets me is those posters who say they majored in English or are in an industry where grammar and spelling is important, but continue with the "too" when they mean "to" or vice versa, or the dreaded "should of" and "could of" when they're trying to make their point. Me? I can't be bothered to finish reading once I see the errors.

But that's just me. The Grammar Nazi. And Fucking Proud of it!

ETA: Because spelling is IMPORTANT!

Edited March 4, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[backformore]

I must admit though that I've tried to subtlety correct a poster here. Every damn time she posts she writes "should/could/would OF" instead of have. I would quote her and say something like "I agree, they really should have...".

Now I feel bad about it!

I've done the same thing, and don't feel badly  about it, because the should of, could of, would of,  thing drives me crazy. I hate it more than I hate "literally" used to mean "not literally", and "I could care less"  to mean "I couldn't care less". 

 It's also the kind of error that can cause a person to not get a job, because it makes them seem uneducated, so I consider that kind of correction to be a favor to the person.  

And,  agreeing with the statement, while re-stating it the correct way, is a very polite way of correcting. 

 

I'm not perfect.  I make typing errors all the time.  Usually they are not SPELLING errors, because I KNOW the right spelling, my fingers just type the letters in the wrong order, so I consider it a typing error.  I'd be annoyed if people quoted and corrected me if the meaning is clear. 

 

A pet peeve of mine on these forums is when people refer to a person on one tv show by their character's name on a DIFFERENT show, or by their resemblance to someone else. Or when people use abbreviations for a different show than the show they're posting about.  Abbreviations like HIMYM or HTGAWM -  yeah, not everyone knows what that means!    I used to stop to try to figure out what the abbreviations were, no I often just skip a post because I get annoyed.

Edited March 4, 2016 by backformore

[GHScorpiosRule]

A pet peeve of mine on these forums is when people refer to a person on one tv show by their character's name on a DIFFERENT show, or by their resemblance to someone else. Or when people use abbreviations for a different show than the show they're posting about.  Abbreviations like HIMYM or HTGAWM -  yeah, not everyone knows what that means!    I used to stop to try to figure out what the abbreviations were, no I often just skip a post because I get annoyed.

 

 

I agree with this. And to piggy back off of this, another thing that irritates me (not the name smooshing; that's a whole other rant) is when people use initials for actors' names and I don't know who they are talking about. Because sometimes, two different actors or actresses have the same.damn.initials. It gives me a headache trying to figure out just who they are talking about.  It's pure laziness.

[FormerMod-a1]

My 'favorite' example of that is GG.  What is that?  Gilmore Girls? Gossip Girl?  Golden Girls? Greg Grunberg? Greg Gutfeld? 

[BookWoman56]

But I keep my mouth shut, because I mentioned it once in one of those shows, but those who continue to mispell, are clearly ignoring me, so I have to let it go. And I didn't even bring up the mispelling. Someone else did. And for one of those names, I just commented, that I was thinking the same thing: Why the name was being mispelled.

 

What really gets me is those posters who say they majored in English or are in an industry where grammar and spelling is important, but continue with the "too" when they mean "to" or vice versa, or the dreaded "should of"  and "could of" when they're trying to make their point. Me? I can't be bothered to finish reading once I see the errors.

 

But that's just me. The Grammar Nazi.  And Fucking Proud of it!

I am now paranoid because I did major in English and am a tech writer, so grammar and spelling are important to me, but I hope that I have not switched "too" for "to" or even "two." I generally don't correct people's typos in this sort of forum because I get paid to do that at work and don't want to do it here as well. However, I will occasionally use the strategy of repeating back a phrase and using the correct spelling or word. But I am somewhat amused by the word "misspelled" being misspelled in a post complaining about misspellings. My basic attitude is that sooner or later, everyone is going to have a typo or lapse where even though you know the correct word, you type the wrong word. What bugs is when the post is filled with mistake after mistake and it's obvious the person didn't make a typo; the poster clearly does not know the correct word/spelling.

 

New peeve: people using the word "ask" as a noun. Yeah, I know there is a history of it being used as a noun in a very specific context. However, I have now sat through too many meetings where someone says, "So, what's the ask here?" and I have no idea if the person is asking what the question is or what the request is. This needs to stop. Now.

Edited March 4, 2016 by BookWoman56

[GHScorpiosRule]

YIKES!!!!

And I do try to correct myself if I've committed the same mistake, which I see that I have! Be right back!

All fixed! Thanks BookWoman56!

Edited March 4, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule

[Maharincess]

I've done the same thing, and don't feel badly about it, because the should of, could of, would of, thing drives me crazy. I hate it more than I hate "literally" used to mean "not literally", and "I could care less" to mean "I couldn't care less".

It's also the kind of error that can cause a person to not get a job, because it makes them seem uneducated, so I consider that kind of correction to be a favor to the person.

And, agreeing with the statement, while re-stating it the correct way, is a very polite way of correcting.

I'm not perfect. I make typing errors all the time. Usually they are not SPELLING errors, because I KNOW the right spelling, my fingers just type the letters in the wrong order, so I consider it a typing error. I'd be annoyed if people quoted and corrected me if the meaning is clear.

A pet peeve of mine on these forums is when people refer to a person on one tv show by their character's name on a DIFFERENT show, or by their resemblance to someone else. Or when people use abbreviations for a different show than the show they're posting about. Abbreviations like HIMYM or HTGAWM - yeah, not everyone knows what that means! I used to stop to try to figure out what the abbreviations were, no I often just skip a post because I get annoyed.

"Literally" drives me crazy, not literally of course. Another one is "amazing", every damn thing is amazing.

I see "loose weight" a lot. I also see alot a lot.

I hate all of the initials too, the ones I hate the most are ds/dd/dh. What is the point of writing that instead of just writing son/daughter/husband? I don't understand that one at all.

[hoosier80]

Bookwoman, I think using ask as a noun starts with one person in an office, typically a big wig, then all the little underling suck ups have to use that word, too.  I've heard ask as a noun, and it drives me crazy.  Another one that's been around for a while, is during a conversation, instead of someone responding yes, I get your point, is simply responding "understood".  I heard one person on the phone keep repeating "understood, understood, understood".  At some point, why not interject something else in the conversation, such as "so you are concerned about the price of cheese needed to feed your pet rats.  I have noted it in the project plan as a major concern, so we will be sure to address it".  But no, it was the endless litany of 'understood, understood, understood'.    Something else repeated is when a project or idea is getting "traction".  It's not quite as bad as the other two, but all of a sudden I heard a senior vp say that in one meeting, and it was this is getting traction, that is getting traction, something else wasn't getting much traction.  The entire office seemed to start using that term.  It's not like it was a new industry term.  Good lord people, think for yourselves, buy a dictionary/thesaurus, and stop the obvious boot licking.  

[Maharincess]

I hate the word "foodie" with a passion.

I hate when people call themselves "foodies" too, I hate everything about it.

Anybody who likes food, eats food has anything to do with food is suddenly a "foodie".

I'd be embarrassed to call myself that.

[Quof]

Agreed, "ask" as a noun is annoying.   Also annoying, usually in the context of customer service (or a Judge Judy litigant) is "reached out." Saying "we reached out to the customer" does not make you sound smarter, or more conciliatory, than simply saying "we called the customer." 

[JTMacc99]

I hate the word "foodie" with a passion.

I hate when people call themselves "foodies" too, I hate everything about it.

Anybody who likes food, eats food has anything to do with food is suddenly a "foodie".

I'd be embarrassed to call myself that.

This is excellent.  

 

I agree, it embarrasses me to call myself a foodie.  And yet, if I were to do so in a conversation at Christmas party, it would save so many words and possibly lead to a quick meeting of the minds that could make the rest of the conversation more fun.  And then of course is the perfect counter to it being a good word, in that people use it to describe anybody who likes food or eats food.  

 

As usual, I have settled in on the problem with the word is the people who use it. Damn people. We can't be trusted.

[hoosier80]

This is borderline pet peeve and just something I laugh at.  When I'm working remote, and I hear from a co-worker, xxxx was just here looking for you.  I always ask, did they ask if I was there?  Yep.  Desk is clearly empty, no coat, no bags, no pc turned on -  yet they ask is she here?  They also do it when my co-workers, one of which comes in at 6 a.m. - they'll ask if they're around at 5 p.m.   Uh, nope.  Again, the desk is clearly empty - no papers, no pc on, no coat, no belongings.  I so want to say, well you caught them - they're hiding in the extremely small cubicles (we have low walls - basically cheap call center type cubicles and we're not in a call center).

 

Second little annoying item - when you have a telephone headset on - and a person comes up and asks - are you on the phone.  We always say later, nope I was directly planes onto the runway.  Why else would I have a phone headset - with the mouthpiece thing - on?

[Quof]

 

I agree, it embarrasses me to call myself a foodie

I call myself a foodie.  It's shorthand for "Don't serve me packaged, processed crap."

[auntlada]

Utilize. Why can't people just say use?

[Mulva]

It's spelled P A I D, not P A Y E D!

[Qoass]

I'm listening to a radio talk show host talking about how stupid the current crop of presidential candidates are as compared to Frank Underwood on House of Cards which resumed at "3am in the morning".

 

As opposed to 3am in the evening, genius?

 

I guess he's just disorient(at)ed.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I hate people who lick their fingers before turning a page or handling papers.  No, I don't want to touch a piece of paper you effectively spat on!

 

Which is why we do it!  We don't want people handling "our" stuff.

Then why oh why do people do it when handing your their credit/debit/discount/membership card, or paper money???!!???

 

This is just one reason why I wash my hands with soap and water a million times a day.

[backformore]

I hate the word "foodie" with a passion.

I hate when people call themselves "foodies" too, I hate everything about it.

Anybody who likes food, eats food has anything to do with food is suddenly a "foodie".

I'd be embarrassed to call myself that.

Yes, most of the time when people call themselves "foodie" they mean that they like nice restaurants, OR they're snobby about what they eat.

One woman at work calls herself and her husband foodies, and it just means they like to go out to eat at different places. Who doesn't?

 

Utilize. Why can't people just say use?

YES.  There was a sign on a door at work - to the file room - saying Please keep the door locked at all times, unless you are UTILIZING the file room. 

If I put a folder back in the room, am I UTILIZING?  I thought I was just putting something away.

[Maharincess]

I had a neighbor years ago who liked using words like utilize instead of use.

We were outside with our kids one day and he said "I enjoy observing the boys social interactions", I said "really? I just like watching them play".

[BW Manilowe]

People who think that 12AM is the same as Noon & 12PM is the same as Midnight, when it's just the opposite. And yes there are some out there.

By the way, today is National Grammar Day. Just saying.

[bmasters9]

People who think that 12AM is the same as Noon & 12PM is the same as Midnight, when it's just the opposite. And yes there are some out there.

Quite so! After 12 A.M. comes 1 A.M., 2 A.M. and so forth, and after 12 P.M. comes 1 P.M., 2 P.M. and so forth. 

[BW Manilowe]

Quite so! After 12 A.M. comes 1 A.M., 2 A.M. and so forth, and after 12 P.M. comes 1 P.M., 2 P.M. and so forth.

They may be looking at 12 as the end of the sequence of hours (starting at 1, instead of 12 as you did), instead of the beginning of the sequence. If they translated it to a 12-hour clock (or whichever 1 counts the time as going from 0100 hours-2400 hours) in their head instead, maybe they'd be more likely to get it right... But who knows?

I just brought it up because I was reading the information on a local hotel, which is part of a well-known, major, worldwide chain &, in the section where they listed the hours for things like the hotel restaurant, the business center, etc., they did exactly what I said: They used 12AM when it appeared they meant Noon & 12PM when it appeared they meant Midnight. At least logically, if you were reading what I was... I mean, I doubt a hotel business center would be open from Midnight until 11:59AM Eastern in the second-largest city in Indiana, but that's what the listed hours read; you might only need those hours if your normal clientele dealt with a lot of businesses/ corporations with overseas offices where our day is their night & vice-versa, which I'm not sure is a huge thing for businesses based here/for business people who normally travel here.

Edited March 5, 2016 by BW Manilowe

[BooksRule]

Second little annoying item - when you have a telephone headset on - and a person comes up and asks - are you on the phone.  We always say later, nope I was directly planes onto the runway.  Why else would I have a phone headset - with the mouthpiece thing - on?

 

I have several hours a week that I have to be on duty at our reference desk (I work in an academic library).  I have one co-worker that will sometimes say 'are you here?' when I come up to take over.  I usually say 'yes', but on occasion I feel compelled to say 'no I'm not.  You're imagining me'.  He just looks confused a moment and then laughs (he has a sense of humor, but he sometimes takes things that we say seriously until he has a few seconds to process them).  I can see him asking if I was wandering around behind the counter area like I was looking for something, but if I'm standing there obviously waiting he should know.

 

I'm not sure if this is a pet peeve or just an observation.  Maybe it's a little of a peeve, since it obviously bothers me a little.  Why do so many people insist on putting what seems like every key they own on their key chain and hauling them around like they were medieval jailers?  I have been in so many meetings where you can hear people jingling as they walk into the room and then they plop that huge bunch of keys and accompanying junk onto the table (where you usually have to push it aside to make room for your own notebook or laptop).  I've been told about what they are carrying and it's usually a key for every room in their house, the workshed out back, keys to the freezer in the garage, keys to various relatives homes/cars, and every key that fits a lock at their place of work.  Not to mention the various store discount mini-cards and other doo-dads that hang from the keychain.  I have the main key to my house, a car key, three door keys from work (one for the building, one for my office and one for my department), and one office desk key.  Any other work keys are available elsewhere if I need them.  Any keys to relatives homes/cars are either at home or in my car somewhere.  I can see having a key to a s.o.'s vehicle if you use it a lot or a key to a parents' home if you go there frequently, but why so many others?  Does it make a person feel more important to have those keys and 'whatnot'?  Okay, I will admit to having a mini action figure keychain of 'The Walking Dead's' Daryl Dixon on my keychain, but that's all.  And, I'm kind of finding him annoying (not Daryl, just the extra weight I'm not used to), so I might have to find him a home on my desk at work or something. 

Edited March 5, 2016 by BooksRule

[DeLurker]

I'm not sure if this is a pet peeve or just an observation.  Maybe it's a little of a peeve, since it obviously bothers me a little.  Why do so many people insist on putting what seems like every key they own on their key chain and hauling them around like they were medieval jailers?

Ha!  Great description!

 

Not sure why they do it unless they actually need that many keys on a regular basis.  I always have kept my car keys and house keys separate  in case they got lost or stolen.  I figured if I lost my house key, I could still drive myself somewhere and if I lost my car key, I could get a ride home and still get in.  The numbed of store tags has become ridiculous so I just have them on a separate key ring altogether.  Same with my office keys (being maintained separate).

 

But for people who do carry around that many keys, when they jingle it acts as an early warning system so you know they are on the prowl.  Same reason I got my cat a collar with a bell on it.

 

ETA:  A literal pet peeve:  Sir Robin insists on going into the fireplace to nose around, so I keep getting a cat with soot smudges on him.  I got him clean the first couple of times, but last night's exploration is going to require a trip to the grocery store for some Dawn (blue) and a bath.  I've tried to block off the fireplace but he keeps weaseling himself into the smallest spaces to gain access.

Edited March 5, 2016 by DeLurker

[ABay]

Congratulations, you have a cat!

[zxy556575]

You wouldn't think a cat would like that sooty smell. That is peeve-making since it requires you put in actual physical energy to fix!

 

As for word usage, I experience a small frisson of disgust whenever someone refers to their post-secondary educational experience as "university" instead of "college". As in, "At university, I majored in Snob." (I do graciously make allowances for persons from the actual UK.)

 

I lead a wonderfully uncomplicated life* and work from home so my keychain has one each: house, car, mail station box. At a couple of points in my life when I was moving from one state to another, I only had a car key, which I admit did feel sort of weird. I'll also cop to having a medium-sized, ugly acrylic key fob from Samoa, which is sentimental.

 

 

 

* To me. To others, an anti-social recluse.

Edited March 5, 2016 by lordonia

[BooksRule]

As for word usage, I experience a small frisson of disgust whenever someone refers to their post-secondary educational experience as "university" instead of "college". As in, "At university, I majored in Snob."

 

Do those same people say 'shed-ule' instead of 'sked-ule' for schedule?  (If they are American.  If they are from the UK, then I also give them a pass.)

Edited March 5, 2016 by BooksRule

[Quof]

 

I experience a small frisson of distaste whenever someone refers to their post-secondary educational experience as "university" instead of "college".

In Canada, one goes to university.  "College" means community college or technical school. 

 

And I'm calling you out on the use of "frisson" in a bitch about word snobbery.

[auntlada]

I don't have that many keys on my keychain, but it seems big because one of the car keys is not a standard key. I've got all my keys on there, though, because if I have two keychains, I will never have the one I need with me. I have no store cards, though, and the only other thing on the keychain is the bottle-opener that came on it. I picked that one for its usefulness.

[krimimimi]

I think it's not just college vs university, but isn't it also a question of definite articles? Like in English it's "my mother is in hospital," but in American there's a "the" in there? Thought that was also an issue with regards to higher education, but, sadly, my English is too eroded.

 

Also, I was vaguely sure that the use of "ask" as a noun is colloquial English, and slowly creeping overseas. http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/ask_2It has to be slang, though, because http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ask doesn't accept it as a noun.

 

I hate the word "foodie" with a passion.
I hate when people call themselves "foodies" too, I hate everything about it.
Anybody who likes food, eats food has anything to do with food is suddenly a "foodie".

I'd be embarrassed to call myself that.

Oh yeah, those people are the worst.

 

Oh wait, it was me.** Hmm.

 

And I'm not embarrassed. Hmm, some more...

 

This is excellent.  

 

I agree, it embarrasses me to call myself a foodie.  And yet, if I were to do so in a conversation at Christmas party, it would save so many words and possibly lead to a quick meeting of the minds that could make the rest of the conversation more fun.  And then of course is the perfect counter to it being a good word, in that people use it to describe anybody who likes food or eats food.  

 

As usual, I have settled in on the problem with the word is the people who use it. Damn people. We can't be trusted.

 

Yes, most of the time when people call themselves "foodie" they mean that they like nice restaurants, OR they're snobby about what they eat.

One woman at work calls herself and her husband foodies, and it just means they like to go out to eat at different places. Who doesn't?

 

Ok, you're giving me hope that maybe I'm just not getting it right. So, I'm going to just level with you guys. 1) I wasn't raised (or taught English) by a native speaker.* 2) Although in the distant past I've spent decent chunks of time in the U.S. and Canada, for the last 25 years or so, I've mostly been cavorting around non-English speaking parts of the EU. 3) I haven't spoken to an American in at least 2 months. 4) If I've spoken English during that time, it has been exclusively to non-native speakers who actually learned "English" (as opposed to "American"). Honestly, my language skills are atrophying, and getting completely mixed up (American/Canadian/Oxford English -> smoosh! conflated!), which is why I'm trying to get myself to post here. Use it or lose it, and frankly, I've lost enough.

 

So this is my first time using the phrase "foodie." And lo! It is apparently a less than popular word. Hmm. That went well. So please help me out: does it not mean what I think it does, or are people like me socially unacceptable? (Ouch. I might need to find a bigger rock to crawl under...**) Here I was, so proud of my use of the vernacular. *sigh* Does it automatically map to "hipster?" I'm too old and frumpy for that. Plus basically housebound. I don't think hipsters can be housebound; it's really the antithesis of "cool." But maybe I don't understand "hipster" either. (20 to 30 somethings, urbanites, too cool for you, and probably weird clothes. Possibly fond of microbreweries? Except we have several breweries (some small) around here that have been here for decades, and they aren't particularly cool. Maybe it's cultural?)

 

What I'm trying to express: basically, I think it's a good thing if you are the kind of person who can sing the praises of a frying pan for two paragraphs, that you recognize that you are "not normal." That's non-judgmental. Those people (like myself) are simply not your average bears. And that's okay, in my book, it's just not "average." I have a friend who once rhapsodized over a page and a half about her new nutmeg grater. Bless. (Surely she must be even less normal than I am. Thank goodness.) Unfortunately, she pretty much sent it to everyone she knew, and she took a lot of flak for it. So seriously, what are we? What is the colloquial term for that? (Preferably not "awkward," thanks.)

 

People who like sports gather together in front of televisions and scream their little hearts out and that's all fine and good. I can't recall ever cheering or jeering at Nigella. So what do the people who love nutmeg graters and frying pans do? It's not like we congregate. Ok, there's potluck.

 

I have food allergies and cook for way too many people who seem to have every allergy but mine. I regularly host a potluck group where egg, milk, gluten, alcohol and pork are off limits. The last two are for religious reasons of some of the attendees. (I'm going to joke and say we get together and eat wood pulp. It's all good. ;-))

 

Because of the allergies, I get to eat out maybe twice a year. It usually doesn't go well, and my available options are so limited that I basically only try it at all for social reasons. So pretty much: if I can't cook it, I don't get to eat it. That is marvelously motivating. If I want bread with a really great crispy crust, I need to figure out how to make it happen. (Still working on the no-knead stuff. The crust was phenomenal, but the bread a bit of a let down. Why? Whywhywhy?)

 

So does this make me a foodie? And if yes, are foodies reviled? And if so, is that just because they like food, and that's silly, or would you bring the same lack of acceptance to bear on, say, basketball fans? (And what are they called? My husband likes the Lakers. I just call him "masochistic," but there's got to be a more general term.) Is it an unaccepted minority thing, or just that the majority doesn't like whichever particular group of fanatics?

 

And thanks in advance for explaining it to me. (Either way, I probably won't try using the term "foodie" in public again, but it would be nice to know.)

 

 

* I was, however, raised by a grammar Nazi. As such, of course, I hate the pedantic half of you on principle. ;-) Sigh, you remind me of "home." <3

 

** Dear, Grammar Nazis:

I know that "to be" is intransitive and should be followed by the nominative, but consider it pretentious. If I know the rules, I can break them. (Consciously, at the very least.) Ditto ending with "under," but as it's no longer modern to orient sentence structure respective prepositions by the Latin model, I refuse to let antiquated rules dictate my actions. (My personal grammar Nazi was very thorough. :-))

[zxy556575]

krimimimi, do you have a blog I could read?  :)

 

And, to lob in a peeve, I'm normally the queen of tl;dr.

 

Does it automatically map to "hipster?"

 

Pretty much, or at least the type of person who has pretensions. Sorry. The word can be inferred to have overtones of "I would never eat at the shitty places you eat, or cook what you cook."

 

Also the ubiquity. But that's my own biases. I mean, cooking and food can have artful hobbyists just like anything else. Perhaps avid knitters or model train enthusiasts have nicknames for themselves that would put me off, but I just never hear them.

Edited March 5, 2016 by lordonia

[FormerMod-a1]

I rarely heard "foodie" used that way.  I always took it to mean I am not a chef, but I know a lot of about food and recipes, etc - i.e. more than your average eaters and/or cook.  So, as a "foodie" myself, people often ask me about ingredients or cuisines they've never heard of because they know I'll know.  Of they'll ask for something new (to them) because I've had more exposure to different flavor combinations.  It's about making a food a hobby, kind of.  More than enjoying eating, but not a chef.   The mere fact that I cook most of my meals from scratch, with whole ingredients, gets me labeled as a foodie by others, even for simple things like chicken soup, or honey-mustard-curry chicken.

[ratgirlagogo]

"Foodie" can kind of go different ways.  Some people who are really interested in food will use it to describe themselves, some will not, and some REALLY hate the term. 

 

http://www.chowhound.com/manifesto

 

Although as a longtime Chowhounder I can say that feelings just don't run that high about the terms anymore.  Not that CHs will describe themselves as foodies but they're not going to rip people to pieces who do, like they would have fifteen  years ago.  The manifesto dates from the beginning of the website, 1996 or 1997 IIRC.

 

Now "hipster" on the other hand is IMO one of those words like "yuppie"  that only exists as a term of abuse.  Someone might call themselves a "foodie" or a "hippie" and for some others the whole idea of whatever that is  is so loathsome that for them, it's an insult - "what is all this hippie shit?", etc.  But nobody actually calls THEMSELVES a "hipster" or a "yuppie."  That's always something those OTHER, AWFUL people are.

Edited March 6, 2016 by ratgirlagogo

[topanga]

 

 

I hate the word "foodie" with a passion.

I hate when people call themselves "foodies" too, I hate everything about it.

Anybody who likes food, eats food has anything to do with food is suddenly a "foodie".

My pet peeve has nothing to do with foodies. But all of this "I'm a foodie" talk made me remember something else.

 

I hate when people say, "I'm a hugger." I know we've already had discussions about hugging. I'm not big on hugging, except with close family and friends. But I'm sometimes forced to hug strangers, such as when I'm in church and the pastor tells us to hug someone. But then there are times, also at church, where I'm being introduced to someone. And while I'm telling the person Hi, nice to meet you, they stretch out their arms. "I'm a hugger." So the fuck what? Why does that mean I have to hug you? 

 

What if I were to say, "I'm a farter." or "I'm a boob squeezer."? Would that make it okay to fart around you or squeeze your boobs? No, it wouldn't. So I don't care if you're a hugger. I don't want to hug your ass. 

 

But to answer the question, yes I still hug the person. *sigh*  Because I'm an introverted wimp who goes out of my way to avoid confrontation. Some days I wish I could speak without a filter, if only for a few minutes.