By thedihedral Posted on

V5 (5 Things 1 Topic)

5 Things – Pet Peeves

We all got ‘em!  I was curious about what my pet peeves were and when I first started thinking about it, I was pretty happy that there were only a few things that really got under my skin.  Then I started thinking about it some more, and um well, down the rabbit hole I went.  While digging around in the hole, I saw the question ‘Can pet peeves be a person’.  I was really confused by this question, and hopeful that the answer would provide some clarity.  It didn’t.  Now I’m left wondering…’Can pet peeves be a person’?  Did someone want to name their kid ‘Pet Peeves’?  Is ‘Peeves’ a last name?  Is it common?

Well, it turns out that Peeves is the 6,360,413th most common surname in the world.  Approximately 1 in 810,000,000 is a Peeves.  I had a really tough time finding out if anyone was legally named ‘Pet’, but that just lead me down a different rabbit hole, then I had an even trickier time finding out if anyone was legally named Pet Peeves, which kind of brought me full circle.  There are a lot of things to say about pet peeves (the irritants, not the person), here are 5 things you might like to know.

  1. While exploring questions about pet peeves, I found one to be pretty interesting.  “What is the opposite of a pet peeve?”  Hmm?  What is the opposite of a pet peeve?  Well, a pet peeve is a minor annoyance that an individual finds particularly irritating, to a greater degree than would be expected based on the experience of others.  So, by dropping in some antonyms at key spots we can come up with a pretty good definition of the contrary to ‘pet peeve’.  A minor delight that an individual finds particularly pleasing to a greater degree than would be expected based on the experience of others.  I think this is a cute idea, and it’s easy to imagine instances of this happening, I just don’t know what to call it.  A ‘pet please’?  Watching someone snuggle laundry fresh out of the dryer is a pet please of mine.  Could pet pleases be a person?
  2. The term Pet Peeve seems to have originated or at least made popular by a Chicago Tribune comic strip called Little Pet Peeves.  The comic was created by cartoonist Frank King and ran from 1916-1920.  Frank King is also responsible for creating Gasoline Alley, which in 2027 will become the longest running comic strip of all time.  The history of this comic incredibly interesting1.  Aside from being one of the longest running comic strips, it is also one of the few comics in which the characters have aged throughout its run.  In 1928 Gasoline Alley became quite controversial as the first comic strip in which a couple had a baby.  Until this time children in comics were either already born, adopted, or just appeared.  Once Walt and Phyllis had their son Corky, it occurred to readers that these characters must have had sexual intercourse.  Never mind that Walt had discovered and adopted two other kids, now it was canon that Walt has a penis!  *gasp*  In 1928, fictional cartoon characters having sex turned out to be a common pet peeve.
  3. I like to think that I am pretty openminded when it comes to student tendencies, but there are two things that absolutely constitute minor annoyances.  When I see an “s” at the end of J.S. Mill’s name I can’t take it.  Mills may have been a utilitarian, or an Englishman, or an economist, or anything else really, but Mills (whoever he is or was) did not write Utilitarianism, or On Liberty, or The Subjugation of Women.  That was John Stuart MILL!  The other pet peeve I have is when logic students mix up a causal argument with a casual argument.  One is an argument you might have with your friends about any topic, and the other specifically reasons from cause to the effect.  Do these irritate me to a greater degree than would be expected?  Yes!  But am I crazy for allowing such minor details get under my skin?  Also yes!
  4. On the trail, on the wall, and at camp there are really just three things that I consider pet peeves.  
    • I don’t want to hear your music when I’m in the woods.  Nature has a way of bringing a calm that is tough to achieve in other places.  Music blaring from an oncoming Bluetooth speaker smothers the vibe.  I don’t mind music at camp or on the wall provided everyone within ear shot is okay with it, but to assassinate the mood because you think Pink Floyd enhances the sunset is not okay.
    • Pick up after yourself/your party.  No one wants to be the person who spends their time picking up other people’s trash.  It’s annoying!
    • Complaining.  Everyone knows your back hurts, and your feet are sore, and the weather is dreadful, and you didn’t sleep a wink.  Neither did we.  We are all suffering through this “fun” together, and hearing someone complain the entire time is worse than enhancing a sunset with Pink Floyd.
  5. Well, enough about me, let’s talk about you!  Here is a list of some of the most common pet peeves, and I have a feeling that most might be a little guilty of finding some of these to be minor irritants.
One UppersSlow Walkers
Chewing noisesLeaving dishes
Clearing throatDriving slow
Dirty nailsKnow-it-alls
Clapping on planesTalking during movies
Slurping drinksTheir, there, they’re
Empty containersPicking teeth
Tuna in the officeBeing late
Tapping pensNot folding clothes
Dog ears pagesAlways climbing

Here’s to having more pet please than pet peeves. Cheers!

Carrot

  1. A short history of Frank King and Gasoline Alley.

52 Replies to “V5 (5 Things 1 Topic)”

  5. Eilene Lyon says: Reply

    Very entertaining post! I like that idea of pet pleases, too. I have a pet peeve about typos (sorry). I know nature can sometimes bring you clams, but …

    Liked by 3 people

    2. thedihedral says: Reply

      Clams, what clams…haha, thank you for the heads up, I fixed it! Now I wonder about where I need to go in order to have nature bring me some clams!

      Liked by 1 person

      2. thedihedral says:

        It’s so funny when I check and re-check for typos, but my brain is just like, “Looks great, you definitely meant to write clams”. I think I am going to use Pet Please more often, it could have some staying power!

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Eilene Lyon says:

        I told my husband this story. He says he has a pet please: when people hold the door open. He always smiles, looks them in the eye, and says thank you.

        Liked by 2 people

  6. Into the Woods says: Reply

    One of my pet peeves is inconsistent order in written arguments (or spoken for that matter). Such as in 3. when the description of “causal” and “casual” doesn’t follow the order those two terms were first introduced. [insert emoji with a grin]

    Liked by 2 people

    1. thedihedral says: Reply

      So short-sighted I know! I feel like I need a part two that’s just totally filled with pet peeves…typos, bad metaphors, horrible analogies, and of course neglecting order.

      Liked by 2 people

  9. Jo says: Reply

    Hypocrisy. I can’t stand it! Just like I don’t care about dirty nails (I’m a bit of a gardener) but if somebody is whining about bacteria and how nothing is ever clean enough, then, that person’s dirty, and uneven nails bother me greatly.

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Martha Kennedy says: Reply

    I dunno, when I was a kid, everyone clapped on the plane when it landed. My dad said it was because the pilot made a good landing. I later realized that meant because we didn’t died.

    I used to get peeved by slow walkers, but now I am one. Karma is a bitch. Oh cliches, I hate them.

    Back in the day, students who didn’t bother to read the syllabus.

    My biggest peeve is people who do not respect education.

    Censorship.

    Logical fallacies, particularly over-simplification, but it’s a tight competition with either/or.

    People who cannot say, “I don’t know” when they don’t know.

    People who argue over the “Oxford comma” though it does keep a few very petty individuals off the street. I guess, generally, people who confuse grammar for writing.

    Mean people.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. thedihedral says: Reply

      These are all so good…speaking of syllabus, I just had a student write about a paper that is due tomorrow. Everything is explained in the syllabus. It is very challenging to not give a passive aggressive reply to questions like that, but in this case a calmer side prevailed.

      I never heard the confusing grammar for writing example, but that makes so much sense, and is something I’ll be sure to explain to students who are afraid of writing because they think they are no good at it.

      Mean people suck!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Martha Kennedy says:

        That syllabus thing. I sometimes chalked that up to a kid who didn’t have a strong read/write learning style. I thought learning styles were bogus until I took the test myself. I started making videos out my syllabus PowerPoints and assigning them as homework. The way I saw it, all jobs have training sessions and training manuals, so it was practice for the future.

        A lot of people (academics, sadly) confuse grammar for writing and they teach it that way. My idea was that anyone can get the grammar right but not everyone has something to say or ideas worth saying. Grammar matters when it obfuscates ( ha ha $20 word ) meaning so I told them revision is for grammar. It worked most of the time.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. thedihedral says:

        That is so great…there is this really old school professor that I teach with. Students can’t stand them, because he goes out of his way to scare them. He takes points off for staple location in a creative writing class. He graduated from a very prestigious university, and has this idea that the way he learned to write is the only right way to write.

        I really hope I never end up like that, I can’t imagine caring about the position of a staple, but I guess time will tell.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Martha Kennedy says:

        He should retire. I retired when the moment came that I couldn’t respect my students any more. That was a combination of things — they’d been taught in ways I didn’t understand or really approved — testing, lots of pressure to achieve scores led to a kind of student I didn’t understand, students who thought their teacher was a kind of enemy out to stymy their achievement. I was never that teacher, but what it took to succeed in my classes (initiative, curiosity, and courage) terrified a lot of them add to that their belief that I was their enemy, not a net that would catch and help them. it got very bad for me. Younger teachers who’d experienced a different world of education growing up were far better for them.

        But it took 38 years, the last 3 weren’t very happy ones for me. That said, there were still — in those last years — many, many, many wonderful moments in the classroom that I will cherish forever. I loved teaching with all my heart.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. thedihedral says:

        That is such a perfect perspective! Education/students are missing out on that approach to teaching. I’ll make sure to keep that in mind as we approach our first exam!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Fabienne S Morgana says: Reply

      There is so much I love about this (even as someone with an opinion on the Oxford comma) but the point about people who confuse grammar for writing is brilliant. One of my roles has been as a trainer / facilitator for adult learners and getting other trainers to realise that grammar, and even spelling is not the most important aspect of their work (especially if the person has English as a second, third, forth or even fifth or more language, or has dyslexia or similar).

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Urban Girl on the Go says:

        Add more 😂 Here is one from me, the word like” It is so ovover used “like” in every “like” other word in a conversation … “like” 🙄 but then again, we used “awesome” before that 🤔

        Another biggie, pouting selfies or tongue hanging selfies 🤷🏻‍♀️

        Like

  12. Alanna says: Reply

    Retired middle school teacher here. I could write a book on pet peeves. Here’s one though…I explain the lesson orally,,visually, acting it out,with a clearly written handout. Then, when done a hand will go up with “I don’t get it.” Ugh. Add that to overuse of emojis and illiterate abbreviations like “yu”. It takes a lot of effort to put in that O. Good thing I retired when I did!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. thedihedral says: Reply

      Oh wow, I can’t even imagine teaching middle schoolers, it is a miracle that any of turn out to be contributing human beings based on where we came from. Not sure any of us would have had a chance if it weren’t for the work of middle school teachers like you! Thank you!

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Alanna says:

        Pardon me it sent before I edited my comment (another pet peeve). Put an a in there and a lowercase letter for library and then we’re good.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Andy Zipser says: Reply

    My pet peeves include the widespread (and possibly irreversible) confusion between “lay” and “lie”; and the phrase “golf carts.” Carts are by definition towed by another vehicle; the proper construct is “golf cars,” but that too is a losing battle.
    Another pet peeve is people who make a big hash of the kinds of distinctions I’ve just listed (comparable to the comment about serial comma arguments), so mostly I just keep it zipped and my thoughts to myself–which perhaps might qualify as someone else’s pet please?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. thedihedral says: Reply

      Haha, that is so funny, great points and I agree, we may be at the stage of just losing these battles. I never even thought about the difference between carts and car, thanks for the explanation!

      Like

      1. misslatoya says:

        People can be pet peeves. I know I have been annoying in certain ways towards certain people in life. But, that is an unavoidable part of life as we all have things or people who may sometimes get on our nerves and vice-versa.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. thedihedral says:

        Haha…I haven’t really thought about it in that light, but I agree. I can think of a lot of people who are pet peeves…and I’m sure in turn I’m a lot of peoples pet peeves as well!

        Liked by 1 person

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