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Things that (sometimes unreasonably) get on your nerves...hopefully lighthearted

(129 Posts)
Nannee49 Sun 09-Aug-26 13:31:16

I was watching the gardening programme on BBC2 this morning and suddenly got immensely irritated by the presenter, in the blazing sunshine, going on with himself along the lines of "...I'm already thinking about Autumn/Winter".

I know gardens take a lot of advance planning but it seems on every gardening programme no one seems to take the time out to just enjoy the moment, always looking ahead to the next job, the next bout of hard labour.

What gets your goat?

Fallingstar Sun 09-Aug-26 13:38:51

I really get unreasonably irritated by people who talk loudly on their phones or even have the phone on speaker whilst on public transport or in a cafe etc.

Lathyrus3 Sun 09-Aug-26 13:55:03

Sloppy writing in novels where the author can’t be bothered to research his settings, characters, time lines etc. Once spotted I can’t read on.

The Passengers by John Marrs was so full plot holes and errors I had steam coming out of my ears. I was astounded that the rest of the book group could just ignore them and enjoy a as a rattling yarn.

I saw nothing but contempt for his readers.

TerriBull Sun 09-Aug-26 14:06:58

Well of course the preceding thread would be one, people who don't pause for breath and make the conversation all about them. Worse still one dimensional conversations that are doggedly about the same subject change the bloody record I'm often thinking!

Yes people who talk loudly into their phone, are they deaf? Or do they simply don't care that everyone else has to listen to their business.

AGAA4 Sun 09-Aug-26 14:16:07

I get irritated by people's visitors who toot their horns loudly as they are leaving even after midnight.

YorkLady Sun 09-Aug-26 14:24:14

Not having a great choice of birthday cards at a local card shop as half of the store was taken up by Christmas cards 😡

YorkLady Sun 09-Aug-26 14:25:08

This was only last week!

tanith Sun 09-Aug-26 15:10:23

A neighbour in the early morning talks in her garden on the phone on loudspeaker grrrrr!

sodapop Sun 09-Aug-26 15:51:50

Lathyrus3

Sloppy writing in novels where the author can’t be bothered to research his settings, characters, time lines etc. Once spotted I can’t read on.

The Passengers by John Marrs was so full plot holes and errors I had steam coming out of my ears. I was astounded that the rest of the book group could just ignore them and enjoy a as a rattling yarn.

I saw nothing but contempt for his readers.

I know exactly how you feel Lathyrus3 I read a lot and really can't stand spelling errors or misused words. I can't continue with the book if it happens a few times. I recently started a book where the author frequently commented on a character's 'mental issues' It grated on me so much I couldn’t continue.

Plevey08 Sun 09-Aug-26 17:56:48

I'm irritated by the trend to introduce numerous characters separately, giving a variety of timelines, sometimes many chapters apart and with unmemorable names and characters. I keep flipping back thinking, was that the brother or.....? Who the hell is she?

Rocketstop2 Sun 09-Aug-26 18:17:37

I'm irritated by Royal Mail never delivering my post !

Bellanonna Sun 09-Aug-26 18:26:04

It irritates me when writers keep to-ing and fro-ing between dates. I wouldn’t mind two sets of dates but it’s often 3 or 4 and I have to refer back. It spoils the smoothness of the reading.

Gwyllt Sun 09-Aug-26 18:44:52

People walking down out track thinking they can use it as a short cut

Flippinheck Sun 09-Aug-26 20:49:26

People who overstay their welcome really, really wind me up. Just yesterday I was looking forward to an afternoon to myself after a busy, stressful week when one of my friends arrived, unannounced. It was just after 2pm. She left just before 6pm. In those four hours she talked non stop about her, her family, her friends, her house move, her younger son’s illness, her husband’s illness. I am genuinely sympathetic as I know she has a lot to deal with right now, so I did try to be supportive. In fact I could have rattled on about the weather or told her I didn’t give a damn because, as often happens, she didn’t have her hearing aids in. By the time she left I was completely drained and had a banging headache. My first port of call was the medicine cupboard for a couple of paracetamol.
If she had just stayed a couple of hours I could have handled it so much better.
I know this is my issue: I live peacefully alone with my cat. I am not comfortable in social situations and get unsettled if I have to be in company (apart from close family) for more than a couple of hours. But this friend has known me for a long time and is aware of this.
I have a hairdresser who does much the same, though at least I know she is coming. She too stays for far longer than she should. My dtr says I am a good listener. Actually I can barely get a word in. And I try to be polite.
Maybe I will not be so welcoming next time. Or perhaps I just won’t open the door. But can I be so rude?

Plevey08 Sun 09-Aug-26 20:53:35

Yes do it Flippingheck for your own sanity.

Grannybags Sun 09-Aug-26 21:07:08

Rocketstop2

I'm irritated by Royal Mail never delivering my post !

Oh yes me too! 12 days now without a delivery and I know of three things posted at least ago

Flippinheck Sun 09-Aug-26 21:07:30

Plevey08

Yes do it Flippingheck for your own sanity.

Thank you!
I will try, I will try, I will try…..

J52 Sun 09-Aug-26 23:33:46

People who recommend a book and then proceed to tell you the whole story in such detail that you no longer wish to read it.
In a similar way, people who recount a news article verbatim when they know you’ve already heard it yourself.

Wyllow3 Sun 09-Aug-26 23:40:29

At the gym mostly younger people who occupy a weights machine or equipment you want to use, sit there, and get out their mobile, and.....

NotSpaghetti Sun 09-Aug-26 23:52:52

... women, sadly always women, who swim slowly in tandem, chatting and taking up half the swimming pool - or those who gather in a bug huddle in the middle of the pool.

Esmay Mon 10-Aug-26 10:35:59

I usually avoid the neighbours,who ask me every time they see me ;

What am I doing with my father house ?
Am I selling it ?
And
Why don't I move ?
Last time,I asked them why they don't sell their house and move!
That really took the wind out of their sails.

Nannee49 Mon 10-Aug-26 11:05:39

Some great irritations!!

I think of myself as an easy going, laid back kind of person but as all of the above chime with me I realise I'm not quite so laissez-faire as I imaginedgrin

hulahoop Mon 10-Aug-26 11:31:53

Programmes that show what's going to happen in the show in the intro .
People on phones talking loudly.

TheWeirdoAgain60 Mon 10-Aug-26 12:14:11

Lathyrus3 I know what you're saying! I can't remember the title or name of the female author but some years ago I got a factual book about Bigfoot and the ''author'' was absolutely awful.

It was a choc-a-bloc of spelling and grammar mistakes, a great chunk of wording on the left page should have going on the right but it was missing and turned up several pages later, AND UPSIDE DOWN! Then only in bits. Like she's literally and sloppily just copied and pasted while blotto out of her skull! I honestly think a flea could have done a far better job!

She made mistakes by saying Bigfoot is definitely related to the Abominable Snowman, but it's been scientifically proven that it's actually a rare hybrid or unrecognized species of bear, while Bigfoot appears to not be a bear. Although some people think they could be a surviving descendant of Gigantopithecus, an extinct genus of massive real-life great apes that lived in Asia about 3,000 years ago. Some say they're a form of cave people who have somehow escaped time, but the ''author'' insisted they're related, even though she had no proof!

The drawings from witnesses who agreed to have their things in her book -she'd somehow did something to them to make them look weird and difficult to read.

She put ''r u' 'instead of ''are you'' etc. No question marks and so on, two or more words, which should have been separate werealladdedintogether ....

I don't see how any publishing group would publish it so it made me think it was self-published!

I binned it as just a few words made in impossible to read properly!

hollysteers Mon 10-Aug-26 12:16:17

Esmay love your response as I’m expected to downsize😁

Really loud soundtracks in the cinema.
Terrible spelling on social media. Half the country seems illiterate.
Hypochondriacs.
Aisle hoggers chatting in the supermarket.
Tiny tiny cooking instructions on tins and jars.