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

[bilgistic]

We have two of the kiddie carts in my store and I hate them. The parents let their kids "help" by letting them put things from the cart on the belt (last night, a family with four young kids came through my lane and did this), but most things are too heavy for kids that size to lift. So the kids are struggling to lift them onto the belt they are too short to see. But, oh, aren't they cute because they are so independent and helpful! And then they want to pick up the bags after the transaction. Because a three-year-old can definitely carry two two-liter drinks.

No. Be an adult and parent your kids. Pay attention to what your kids are doing. There are other people who need to check out. Stop being entitled; be an adult and put your items on the belt yourself. Play with your kids outside or at home. A store isn't a playground.

[partofme]

I love little carts but I live in nyc and don't buy that much at once.  They are so much easier to maneuver than big ones.

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, tinkerbell said:

I talked to a grocery store manager about this.  Notice when a new store opens they have a bunch of those little "kiddie shopping carts"  so that kids can push them through the store and shop with their parents?   And then they don't have any.   The store manager told me that grocery stores order a certain amount of these when the store opens, and then not order any more after they all "disappear"  into minivans.   Honestly, wouldn't you be embarrassed to have people see that you own a child-size shopping cart with the name of a store on it?  

We call them Future Consumer Practice Carts.

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

We call them Future Consumer Practice Carts.

Ours each have a little plastic flag that says "Customer in Training". Barf.

[BookWoman56]

2 hours ago, bilgistic said:

There are other people who need to check out. Stop being entitled; be an adult and put your items on the belt yourself. Play with your kids outside or at home. A store isn't a playground.

As a parent and consumer, I fail to understand why people feel compelled to drag their kids to the grocery store anyway. I was a single parent essentially from day one with my daughter, and there were times when nobody was available to watch her while I went to the store, but I made damn sure I went at non-peak hours and didn't engage in getting her to "help" me check out. If I had multiple kids and a spouse, there's no way in hell I would have taken the kids with me to shop on a regular basis. I recognize that there's value in getting your kids to understand appropriate behavior in grocery stores and so forth, so I understand taking one or possibly two kids at a time for a short trip to introduce them to how the grocery store excursion works. I taught my daughter very early that while she was free to request anything in the store that she wanted, many times the answer was going to be that we weren't getting that item today. This approach resulted in her not ever having a single meltdown in a store over wanting to get something that I wasn't going to buy. (I generally blame the parents, though, for doing things like dragging a tired toddler into Walmart late at night past rows and rows of toys and expecting the toddler not to lose its composure.)

But why do both parents need to go to the store and take four kids along? Can't they come up with a comprehensive shopping list before going to the store, so there's no need for input by every single family member? I blame the concept of forced family togetherness for this stupid idea that everything has to be done as a family unit. FFS, there are some things it's better to do alone as a parent or with only one child, in addition to having some consideration for other shoppers.

[Katy M]

47 minutes ago, BookWoman56 said:

But why do both parents need to go to the store and take four kids along?

Sometimes it's because the easiest time to go shopping is on the way back from a little league game.  Or on the way back from camping and you know you have no food at home.  Or you forgot something on the way to going somewhere and you have to stop and get it.  

[2727]

1 hour ago, Katy M said:

Sometimes it's because the easiest time to go shopping is on the way back from a little league game. Or on the way back from camping and you know you have no food at home. Or you forgot something on the way to going somewhere and you have to stop and get it.  

I suppose parents could get in trouble for leaving their kids in the car these days ...

[Nordly Beaumont]

I loved going to the store with my mom when I was little! So much that if I started acting up, all I had to hear was "I guess you can stay home while I get groceries this week" and the words "I'm sorry" couldn't fly out of my mouth fast enough! While we were at the store I always stayed with her and didn't ask for stuff, I just loved being with her in this big place full of everything! I still love getting groceries.

[shapeshifter]

On 6/16/2019 at 10:51 PM, bilgistic said:

Anything that we discuss at any length in these forums eventually shows up in ads in my (this) browser. A while back, we talked about walk-in tubs, which is not something I have any need for, but just because I had the text on my screen, I started getting ads for them. I probably will get them again now.

I clear my browser cache/history at least once daily just so I don't see the targeted ads.

On 6/17/2019 at 2:05 AM, AgentRXS said:

Yeah, someone here mentioned the Purple mattress one time, and I got nothing but those ads for months on end. I still get them from time to time.

I suppose this could explain an otherwise disturbing ad that just popped up for office chairs.
I have used a standing desk or table for at least 4 years now because of sciatica pain when I sit, and so all of my office chairs were given away in a move 3 years ago. Next week I am going to try acupuncture, and was fantasizing (but not talking out loud about or typing about or Googling) all the things I might be able to do in addition to sitting through my daughter's wedding without pain, when it occurred to me that I might need to get a desk chair.
Again, I only thought about desk chairs.
And yet here they are this morning in the right hand column of this board where the ads live.
I'm hoping that I glimpsed an ad for office furniture (perhaps because of a search for computers?) that triggered my own chair thoughts and not that the Internet's AI is now able to read my thoughts based on some complex algorithm. 

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

I have used a standing desk or table for at least 4 years now because of sciatica pain when I sit

You know what I wish? That office desks were the height of bar tables and chairs the height of stools! That way, you wouldn't need an add-on contraption (the way our setups are at work wouldn't allow that with two monitors and the laptop in a dock on an overhead shelf above the desk's surface); you could just step off the chair and leave everything on the desk as it is. 

Which leads to my peeve: SITTING ALL DAY LONG! Between my 90ish-minute commute in a car and an at least 9-hour day, I am losing my damn shit. Some days, I get home and feel like I can't walk normally from the car to the door!

[shapeshifter]

25 minutes ago, TattleTeeny said:

You know what I wish? That office desks were the height of bar tables and chairs the height of stools! That way, you wouldn't need an add-on contraption (the way our setups are at work wouldn't allow that with two monitors and the laptop in a dock on an overhead shelf above the desk's surface); you could just step off the chair and leave everything on the desk as it is. 

Which leads to my peeve: SITTING ALL DAY LONG! Between my 90ish-minute commute in a car and an at least 9-hour day, I am losing my damn shit. Some days, I get home and feel like I can't walk normally from the car to the door!

Since 2016 I have used a bar-height table in my apartment for meals, computer work and leisure, art projects, etc. After much searching I bought it from Wayfair. It's a southeast Asian hardwood, with legs that easily screw in, and was under $100. I bet they're some available now second hand in Facebook market. 

And now it will be interesting to see if my ads switch to show tables, Wayfair, Facebook, or anything Asian. 😵
Or what I am now drinking. 😉

[TattleTeeny]

Unfortunately, I can't just remodel my cube at work, haha! But if I could, I'd also shroud it in some kind of tent!

Peeve: the common phrase in advertising "get it before it's gone." Well...yeah; I'd kind of have to, no?

Edited June 20, 2019 by TattleTeeny

[hoosier80]

In the Midwest, people will add R's to words, and also change the endings of words.  

Washington = Warshington, Wash = Warsh

Then you have pillow becoming pilla, window becomes winda.  Even city names are mispronounced:  Indianapolis becomes Innnapolis, and Columbus becomes Clumbus.  Like it's too much effort to say the entire freaking word.  I'm not even talking about "hip" abbreviations (gorg for gorgeous, etc.).

I had a co-worker years ago, who couldn't get last names correct.  One name was Maddix.  Pretty easy?  Nope, said it as Maddocks.  There's a busy road here - Morse.  One woman said it as Morris.  Then she said Abercrombie and Fitch - as Fitz.  Then we had someone say pacific for specific, and port hole for portal.  Every time I see those words, I still giggle.  The portal one almost got me in trouble - some Easter hymn had portal.  So here I'm in church trying not to giggle because all I could think of was Jesus and his heavenly port hole (portal).  

[shapeshifter]

11 hours ago, hoosier80 said:

So here I'm in church trying not to giggle because all I could think of was Jesus and his heavenly port hole (portal).  

At least a heavenly porthole makes as much sense (to me) as a heavenly portal.
  
 

Edited June 21, 2019 by shapeshifter
Typo

[RealHousewife]

My pet peeve is friends whose favorite thing on the weekends is breakfast/brunch, especially if it's at an earlier time and/or there's a long wait.

I'd much rather sleep in, relax a bit, take my time getting ready, eat/get my caffeine fix the at home for much less, then see you for lunch or dinner or a movie or theatre, so many things I'd rather do than brunch. Maybe if I were a morning person and not a health conscious vegan I'd get more into it. But it's more a chore when I do it and not something I get any enjoyment out of. 

[ratgirlagogo]

6 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

My pet peeve is friends whose favorite thing on the weekends is breakfast/brunch, especially if it's at an earlier time and/or there's a long wait.

Tell me about it. It's a cult in NYC.  And ANY wait at all on a Sunday morning when we should all be sleeping in - WHY?     I said no to all that years ago.  Unless we're making brunch ourselves in the house (which we can do for a fraction of the cost) just include me out.

Edited June 22, 2019 by ratgirlagogo

[ABay]

By the time brunch time rolls around, I've already been up for several hours and I'm not waiting until everyone else hauls their asses out of bed to have coffee and croissants.

[topanga]

10 hours ago, RealHousewife said:

My pet peeve is friends whose favorite thing on the weekends is breakfast/brunch, especially if it's at an earlier time and/or there's a long wait.

I'd much rather sleep in, relax a bit, take my time getting ready, eat/get my caffeine fix the at home for much less, then see you for lunch or dinner or a movie or theatre, so many things I'd rather do than brunch. Maybe if I were a morning person and not a health conscious vegan I'd get more into it. But it's more a chore when I do it and not something I get any enjoyment out of. 

I hear ya. But are your breakfast friends parents? Or people with demanding jobs? Weekend mornings might be the only free time they can carve out of their busy schedules. 

[RealHousewife]

2 hours ago, topanga said:

I hear ya. But are your breakfast friends parents? Or people with demanding jobs? Weekend mornings might be the only free time they can carve out of their busy schedules. 

It’s definitely a mix as far as their schedules. I’ll do brunch sometimes because of this, but much as I care about my friends, it kind of makes me hate my weekend mornings. 😂 It also seems like the more nice and accommodating I try to be, the more brunch invites I get. When I don’t have to be up early, weekend mornings are my favorite time of the entire week. It doesn’t help that the other half of my friends like to go out super late. I want more sleep on the weekends, not less. Lol 

[annzeepark914]

On 6/20/2019 at 11:01 PM, hoosier80 said:

In the Midwest, people will add R's to words, and also change the endings of words.  

Washington = Warshington, Wash = Warsh

Then you have pillow becoming pilla, window becomes winda.  Even city names are mispronounced:  Indianapolis becomes Innnapolis, and Columbus becomes Clumbus.  Like it's too much effort to say the entire freaking word.  I'm not even talking about "hip" abbreviations (gorg for gorgeous, etc.).

The only people who pronounce Maryland the way it's spelled are folks from other countries. I didn't realize that until I heard a Canadian say MaryLand. 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

The only people who pronounce Maryland the way it's spelled are folks from other countries. I didn't realize that until I heard a Canadian say MaryLand. 

Conversely, only people who have lived in the states of Illinois, Missouri, and Oregon can "correctly" pronounce them.

[ABay]

Sound. My pet peeve is sound. Specifically the boom boom boom of someone else's "music". The neighbors behind me used to have a lot of parties during the summer, and their music was pretty loud and the screaming children were just as bad, but it wasn't every weekend and they quieted down by 9. But they must have moved because the current owners apparently think it's ok to make walls vibrate in other people's houses.

The first time, a few weeks ago, I ended up calling the police because they couldn't hear me yelling to get their attention, and the back fence is too high to see over. I saw another neighbor go through a fence (I don't know how she did that) and talk to them but the noise didn't stop until after I gave up and called the police. I felt so stupid calling.

Anyway, long story long, it started again this afternoon and once again I couldn't get their attention to ask them to turn it down a decibel or two, so I called the police. Again, I feel so stupid doing this but seriously, it was louder than acceptable unless we were on a fairground. Louder than the usual weekend party noise and who knows when it would end?

It rained a little right after I called and things are blessedly peaceful now. But I see they have a long table set up in the backyard and the rain has stopped and I;m not sure what to do if they start up again. If the police did check it out, judging by the timing, it was after the booming had already stopped. Maybe someone else also complained. How their immediate neighbors put up with it, I don't know.

I could hardly hear the dispatcher--I called from the backyard so she'd experience it, too--and I swore she said something about the officers talking to me before they checked it out, but it's been quite a while so I must have misheard her.

It's going to happen again and I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to call the police every freaking weekend. I pray for rain. Or for weather so miserable I have to close every window and turn on the a/c. I can still feel the booms when the a/c cycles down, though. Do I leave a note? The town ordinances are useless or I'd stick a copy in their mailbox. Maybe make a flag to wave over the fence to catch their attention?

Oh, joy, it has begun again.

[Browncoat]

A few years ago, I had a neighbor across the street who would sit in his car and play his car stereo so loud that I could hear the bass line from his closed car, halfway across his property, across the street, halfway across my property, and in the back rooms of my closed house.  I honestly don't know how he could stand to be in the car.  Anyway, when I called the police, I could hear another dispatcher in the background, talking to someone else in my neighborhood who was complaining as well.  The police came out each time we called, and things would improve for a while.  The last time we had to complain, the police actually went in their house and chatted for a while.  No idea what the conversation was about, but the noise problem was solved.  Not long after that, that neighbor moved away.  Possibly to a less quiet neighborhood.

All that to say, don't feel stupid for calling the police.  It works.

[ABay]

Thanks, @Browncoat. Two officers just stopped by and the neighbor was cooperative, is aware of the 9:00 STFU ordinance, but isn't exceeding the decibel level allowed by the town. From what I can figure, you'd have to be running a jet engine to exceed the decibel level allowed by the town. Knowing it will eventually end is comforting, but knowing it's probably going to happen every freaking weekend until it snows, is not.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

A few years ago, I had a neighbor across the street who would sit in his car and play his car stereo so loud that I could hear the bass line from his closed car, halfway across his property, across the street, halfway across my property, and in the back rooms of my closed house.  I honestly don't know how he could stand to be in the car

The irony is that the bass sounds are almost inaudible to those near the source of the noise/music, and the bass tones travel furthest. 

43 minutes ago, ABay said:

Knowing it will eventually end is comforting, but knowing it's probably going to happen every freaking weekend until it snows, is not.

I am really enjoying the quiet this spring and summer since my neighbor's son moved out. He never played loud music (thank goodness!) but he ran the 40-year-old window air conditioner non-stop from April through October right outside my window.

I mention this, @ABay, because when it was driving me nuts, I would Google things like: Noisy neighbor air conditioner.
I was "this close" to implementing the solution of putting peanut butter in it so the squirrels could short circuit it.
  
  

Speaking of annoying sounds (but not at the levels of a booming bass or a leaf blower): Wind chimes.
What makes anyone think that everyone within earshot is going to want to listen to wind chimes rather than the wind in the trees and the songs of the birds?
And, no, let me stop you right there: Wind chimes are not a part of nature.

Edited June 22, 2019 by shapeshifter

[annzeepark914]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

The irony is that the bass sounds are almost inaudible to those near the source of the noise/music, and the bass tones travel furthest. 

I am really enjoying the quiet this spring and summer since my neighbor's son moved out. He never played loud music (thank goodness!) but he ran the 40-year-old window air conditioner non-stop from April through October right outside my window.

I mention this, @ABay, because when it was driving me nuts, I would Google things like: Noisy neighbor air conditioner.
I was "this close" to implementing the solution of putting peanut butter in it so the squirrels could short circuit it.
  
  

Speaking of annoying sounds (but not at the levels of a booming bass or a leaf blower): Wind chimes.
What makes anyone think that everyone within earshot is going to want to listen to wind chimes rather than the wind in the trees and the songs of the birds?
And, no, let me stop you right there: Wind chimes are not a part of nature.

I call them wind gongs cause some of them are huge. Don't people think of anyone but themselves? They leave them up on windy days & nights. I finally emailed the neighbors (don't know them as they live in an adjoining cul de sac but their patio is not far from ours). The husband apologized. But the wife still put them out but not as often & no longer at night. 

Abay, call the police info' line and ask about having some officers come to your house so they can experience the noise inside w/ windows closed the next time the jerks have their mega music blasting away. The police need to have a serious chat w/ these people. 

Edited June 23, 2019 by annzeepark914

[Annber03]

Our neighbors have a tendency to have their cars/motorcycles revved up really loud-and for some reason, they sometimes feel the need to zoom around the neighborhood like that late at night. We're also getting the occasional sounds of fireworks popping, because even though the 4th of July is still a couple weeks away, apparently, we need to have people lighting off fireworks in their yards right now. 

As for the discussion about states, at least people know what states those are. My state of Iowa often tends to be confused with entirely different states. There are people who think we're either Idaho or Ohio. 

[Mindthinkr]

I so relate to the noise issues with neighbors. Here’s my neighbors response:

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, Mindthinkr said:

I so relate to the noise issues with neighbors. Here’s my neighbors response:

Yeah, right.  Ear plugs are useless plus they won't stop the bass vibrations coming into one's house.  There sure are a lot of self-absorbed, uncaring people in this country today. We live in a development with rules (thank God) and can depend on our manager to handle the nasties.  I know a lot of folks don't want to live in a place that has rules but they come in handy at times.

[Mindthinkr]

1 minute ago, annzeepark914 said:

Yeah, right.  Ear plugs are useless plus they won't stop the bass vibrations coming into one's house.  There sure are a lot of self-absorbed, uncaring people in this country today. We live in a development with rules (thank God) and can depend on our manager to handle the nasties.  I know a lot of folks don't want to live in a place that has rules but they come in handy at times.

I wasn’t so insulted by the earplugs comment. It was more the emoji. I interpreted as in I made him angry by complaining. 

Lucky you having a manager to go between you and your noisy neighbors. 

[2727]

A long time ago I was cleaning and had the stereo on in my apartment. My neighbor came over to ask if I could turn down the music because he was trying to study. As he stood in my doorway he said in surprise, "It's not even loud in here."

My speakers were against the wall and he no doubt heard the bass more than I did. Stupid sound waves!

[Bastet]

19 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

I so relate to the noise issues with neighbors. Here’s my neighbors response:

Wow.  I can't believe he was that rude to you when you know each other well enough to have each other's cell phone numbers.

[Sun-Bun]

I feel you all on the noise issues. And @ABay, you did the right thing calling the police; those folks will never know they’re being inconsiderate unless they’re called on it and disciplined! 

Like I’ve lived in my old historic loft building for 12 years now, and it still boggles my mind that people don’t realize that they can’t raise Hell and blare music and/or party in here at all hours. Thank god we have managers to help, but I’m the neighbor who isn’t afraid to politely talk to my neighbors first if they’re repeatedly bugging the crap out of me being rudely noisy. I’ve had to educate quite a few surrounding folks on how their speakers and sound travels in here; this building is like a wooden music instrument, therefore sound is going to travel and echo!

I mostly get annoyed at kids living here. Parents will let the little bastards stomp and yell up in here, obviously forgetting that the rest of us didn’t sign up to live around all their parenting mistakes. My last neighbors had a brat who had nightly stomping meltdowns. I finally lost it once and screamed “SHUT THE FUCK UPPPPP!!!” at him right through the walls; then I didn’t hear that kid again for weeks. Which tells me that his sad excuses of parents were every bit the lazy twats I suspected them to be. Parents need to learn how to parent—-quit letting your kid be an asshole. Because then they’ll grow up to be the assholes that we’re all here griping about right now. 

[Bastet]

2 minutes ago, Sun-Bun said:

Parents need to learn how to parent—-quit letting your kid be an asshole. Because then they’ll grow up to be the assholes that we’re all here griping about right now. 

Yes, this.  I don't need to do it (no way, no how, not for a trillion dollar reward would I spawn and raise a kid) to know parenting is an exhausting job, but if you sign up to do it, then fucking do it.  These little crotch goblins don't come into the world knowing anything, they learn by instruction and observation.  So teaching them - by word and example - how to be responsible members of a society is the first job of parenting!

At the market a couple of weeks ago, the woman checking out in front of me had two kids with her; I'm terrible at estimating ages (the stages of minority to me are annoying baby, annoying toddler, annoying little kid, annoying puberty-era kid, and annoying teenager), but let's say the girl was eight and the boy five.  First, the woman was standing in front of her cart instead of behind it, so I didn't have the normal amount of room to start loading my stuff onto the belt.  Second, the boy was behind the cart, trying to climb up onto the belt from the side.  Third, the girl was at the foot of the belt, putting packs of gum onto it.  The mother did jack all about the boy, and instead of telling the girl to knock that shit off, she'd just silently put the gum back again and again.

When her items moved up enough that there was plenty of room for me to unload my cart if her demon spawn would get out of my way, I waited a moment to see if she noticed they were in my way (at first, she was focused on the register).  Shortly, she most certainly did, and said nothing.  So I said to the girl, "Pardon me, I need to put my stuff down" and when she didn't immediately move, reached over her to start doing so.  Only then did Mom of the Year tell her kids to "come here" - at which point they went all the way around to the front and started horsing around with the cart, running around in front of several check-out lines (paying absolutely no attention to their surroundings, of course), etc.  Dipshit said/did nothing.

Kids need to learn the world is not their playground; there are appropriate times and places for any given behavior.  And I know even the best-raised kids have meltdowns, dig in their heels, etc.  But it's pretty damn obvious when a good parent is experiencing a bad moment and when this is just par for the course -- it's not the kid's actions, but the parent's reaction.  And far too many of them are flat-out abdicating their responsibility, to their kids and to the rest of us.

[BookWoman56]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

These little crotch goblins don't come into the world knowing anything, they learn by instruction and observation.  So teaching them - by word and example - how to be responsible members of a society is the first job of parenting!

My general experience is that the kids who are annoying as fuck have parents who are even more annoying as fuck; it's just that the parents have often learned to hide it a bit better in public. The kids have not yet internalized that it's easier to get away with being a complete jerk in certain settings as opposed to others. 

[ParadoxLost]

Not to repeat myself.  But another special snowflake couldn't pay attention to the 10 items or less sign.   I was watching and at least two shoppers behind her (with one or two items) got out of the express line because her cart was so full that they decided that the people in the normal lines would go faster because they had fewer items.   

I couldn't work in a grocery store.  I find people's behavior too infuriating.

[fairffaxx]

14 minutes ago, ParadoxLost said:

Not to repeat myself.  But another special snowflake couldn't pay attention to the 10 items or less sign. ...    

Maybe she was protesting the ungrammatical sign that should have said "10 items or fewer".  Of course, that's no excuse and two wrongs don't make a right.

[shapeshifter]

26 minutes ago, fairffaxx said:

Maybe she was protesting the ungrammatical sign that should have said "10 items or fewer".  Of course, that's no excuse and two wrongs don't make a right.

My mind automatically translates those signs to "10 items or else!"

[Katy M]

2 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

Not to repeat myself.  But another special snowflake couldn't pay attention to the 10 items or less sign.   I was watching and at least two shoppers behind her (with one or two items) got out of the express line because her cart was so full that they decided that the people in the normal lines would go faster because they had fewer items.   

I couldn't work in a grocery store.  I find people's behavior too infuriating.

I'll have to admit I sneaked into the 14 item express lane with 15 items.  But, in my defense, there was no line there and 3 items were scanned before anyone got behind, so it was less than 14 at that point.  And I had 4 of 1 item and 2 of another, so that makes it faster.

[Pansy]

On 6/14/2019 at 7:04 PM, ABay said:

Pet peeve: English people who pronounce Rs as Ws. It's not a speech impediment, it seems to be a perfectly acceptable thing, like sticking Rs at the end of words that end in A. If you watch any UK TV, you know what I mean. Jonathan Ross is an example. I'm listening to a podcast right now and want to reach through the internet and smack this woman. It's HenRy, not HenWy. 

Hi, English person here 🙂  Jonathon Ross as an example is a bad one - he actually does have a speech impediment, it’s well known here.  Personally, I think it’s a good thing that he didn’t let it hold him back from having a career speaking in public. 

Some accents in the UK as a whole do have a roll to their ‘rs’ eg with some Scottish or Irish accents, (I love accents, it would be a tremendous shame if everyone was forced to speak the same), but having lived here all my life I’ve never noticed this annoying habit.  Could you give any other examples apart from Jonathon Ross with his speech impediment?

Edited June 24, 2019 by Pansy

[walnutqueen]

Canadian here, living in the USofA for many years.  Americans, in general, are absolute shite for recognizing foreign accents, despite having some of the most gawdawful accents themselves.  I have an ear for accents, and am continuously gobsmacked by those who don't ...

I adore Jonathon Ross' speech impediment, and sorely miss the days when his chat show was aired on BBCAmerica.  

Back on topic?  Peeved that South African accents are too often mistaken for Australian or Kiwi ones.  How can you NOT tell the difference?  :~)

[Pansy]

Again walnutqueen, hello! 😘. I adore accents, always have - any, and I mean any. They hold me in thrall. My son and I are always trying different ones out with each other.  I think I’m good at them until he starts - he’s absolutely brilliant at the Geordie accent (and even there, there are so many variants). Are you familiar with that one?  

Edited June 26, 2019 by Pansy

[walnutqueen]

Hello again, @Pansy!  We seem to be crossing paths around these parts, don't we?

I just LURVE me a Geordie accent!

[Anela]

5 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Canadian here, living in the USofA for many years.  Americans, in general, are absolute shite for recognizing foreign accents, despite having some of the most gawdawful accents themselves.  I have an ear for accents, and am continuously gobsmacked by those who don't ...

I adore Jonathon Ross' speech impediment, and sorely miss the days when his chat show was aired on BBCAmerica.  

Back on topic?  Peeved that South African accents are too often mistaken for Australian or Kiwi ones.  How can you NOT tell the difference?  :~)

South African is definitely different from Australian or Kiwi. It's sharper, for one thing. there's something taut about it, from what I remember. 

I've been mistaken for Australian before, when my English accent starts to merge a little with everyone else's American accents. I don't want many English shows anymore, but recently started Good Omens, then left the house, and got my first comment on my accent, since early last year. I sounded more posh and precise than usual. 

[JTMacc99]

10 hours ago, Katy M said:

I'll have to admit I sneaked into the 14 item express lane with 15 items.  But, in my defense, there was no line there and 3 items were scanned before anyone got behind, so it was less than 14 at that point.  And I had 4 of 1 item and 2 of another, so that makes it faster.

You are a good citizen. The sign probably says "about 14 items" and taking into account that there was no line, the types of items you had, and the fact that you thought about it makes you well within the socially acceptable range.

[ABay]

Hang on, I have to track down the podcast with the person who most recently annoyed me by not being able to pronounce R. I think it was Hidden Histories. But I hear it all the time, especially in older English TV shows and seems far too prevalent to be a speech impediment for all of the speakers. Unless...was there a speech impediments epidemic after WW2...

Yes, Hidden Histories, episode about Simon de Montfort. 

Poking around online, it could be called the Winchester R. 

Edited June 24, 2019 by ABay

[Bastet]

20 hours ago, fairffaxx said:

Maybe she was protesting the ungrammatical sign that should have said "10 items or fewer". 

I complain about those a lot, but I don't know if I've mentioned that the express lane at a nearby Smart & Final has two signs above it, about four feet apart, and one reads "10 Items or Less" and the other "10 Items or Fewer".  I don't shop there very often, so I'm not sure of the sequence of events - given their respective placements, it seems to me like the "or fewer" sign was added later.  So I like to fantasize enough customers told them "or less" was wrong that they ordered new signs.  (And then forgot to remove the old ones?)  I'll have to wander into another S&F one of these days to see if this is a pattern.

[theredhead77]

My brunch peeve is that living in GA means I can't even get a brunchy drink until 11am and that's lunchtime! It used to be worse but I'm used to getting hangover brunch at 10am and having a full and proper Sunday Funday where we stop drinking at 2 or 3pm so we can go to work the next day.

My current peeve is willful ignorance and lack of research. A FB friend of mine posts memes that are factually wrong and never removes them. I've taken to posting the correct information which is ignored or argued with. Most recently I posted a link to bill directly from the senate.gov website and she said that was wrong and her meme was correct. Uh, no. We can disagree all we want but the information showing your meme is wrong is clearly in the executive summary of the damn law. 

[peacheslatour]

Quote

My brunch peeve is that living in GA means I can't even get a brunchy drink until 11am and that's lunchtime! It used to be worse but I'm used to getting hangover brunch at 10am and having a full and proper Sunday Funday where we stop drinking at 2 or 3pm so we can go to work the next day.

If someone wanted to host brunch in their home, could they be arrested for serving mimosa's before 11?

[theredhead77]

8 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

If someone wanted to host brunch in their home, could they be arrested for serving mimosa's before 11?

No, you just can't purchase alcohol. Private parties and residences aren't included in the ban