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Child Item

Trivial things that annoy you

El Guapo!

As the title says, what seemingly trivial things bug you?

There's plenty for me, but lately its a spoon.

In the top drawer in the kitchen we have all the cutlery in one of those tray things that everyone has. Everything's in its own little section. But there's one bastard spoon doing my head in.
I have no idea where it came from or why it's even there.
The problem is, it's too big to be a small spoon.....but too small to be a big spoon. I never know what section to put it in, and every time I open the drawer.........there it is. Mocking me.

I fúcking hate that spoon.

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Anyone

When an ad comes on the telly, so you change the station, and all the other stations have ads as well.

aknitter

bandwagon jumping on this issue is huge - my mother is a diagnosed coeliac - my mother-in-law swears she is the same but just looking for something to whinge about. My sister is 'lactose intolerant' and see the amount of milk chocolate she can pack away is cruel....

silenceisfoo

When people don't know the difference between an allergy to something and an intolerance to something.

aknitter

Disco - have to agree with you, was told to eat loads of pro biotics by a health food shop while my own doc was after telling me to avoid like the plague!! I told them that and they would not believe me....didn't know most of the shop assistants were physic or have little known medical degrees hanging around!

Wise Old Elf

BrensBenz wrote: »

Trendy, made-up allergies.

...etc
.

I kind of agree. I have a (medically tested!) allergy to eggs, i.e., throw up, blue lips in bad cases etc. My son has a similar but less severe reaction to eggs as well.

However, I have also been randomly advised by well meaning but misguided people in healthfood shops and the likes to avoid anything they feel like, e.g. white bread, gluten, etc with no backing, just their experience, so I presume these people have just decided that they're allergic to this food group. Intolerant might be a more apt word than allergic.

So another trivial thing that annoys me: unsolicited, incorrect medical advice from people in shops!

herbytosh

People who say living the dream

BrensBenz

Trendy, made-up allergies.

"Oh, I'm so special, I'm like sooooooooo allergic (or, more usually, allergict) to granite; magnolia vinyl emulsion; the ink in the Drogheda Independent; Spanish 5c coins, etc. etc."

And before yis all jump on me, I have no problem with the symptoms of, say, hayfever. My problem is with the assumed cause. How, after living on and with all sorts of plants and grasses for millions of years, can a human, e.g. your cousin's buddy, suddenly become snot-infested, swelly-eyed and hoarse from being in the same county as.....plants? Why aren't our primate cousins also affected?

I remember, when I was about six, having a slight sniffle and being brought to some obscure Catholic ritual involving incense. Well, the sniffle turned to a few sneezes, runny eyes and a slight cough. "Oh, you must be allergic to incense," said the font of wisdom. "Great", I thought, "no more of this church stuff for me." I milked that for years!

In her sixties, my mother decided she was allergic to chicken. Now we have instantaneous dashes to the bathroom if so much as a whiff of chicken is detected. Other fowl are fine!

My Leader of the Opposition alleges an allergy to base metals, e.g. rivets on jeans; cheap jewellery, etc. So easily (and successfully) disproved!

I freely admit that my theory falls down when new-borns exhibit sensitivity to substances......unless their mammies are telepathically beaming these reactions into them.....but perhaps some boardies have access to some fact-based research on the proportion of legitimate allergies to the made-up, auto-suggested, Mammy-suggested or media-suggested allergies that wasn't funded by the pharmaceutical industry.

Lucena

Sittingpretty wrote: »

Actually, he is correct. Thomas, Thames and thyme are (I think) the only 3 words in the English language where one should never pronounce the 'th'.

Citation needed.

mikemac1

When I fell stupid for not knowing that names have changed.

Mumbai was in the news last month for some terrorist being hanged.
Mumbai?? Ahhhhh.....when I was a young 'un we called that Bombay.

Burma is now Myanmar Republic or something like that.

Read somewhere about Republic of China. I always called that Taiwan

It it Dingle or An Daingean?

Leave placenames alone

Sittingpretty

The King of Moo wrote: »

As I've said many times before, you can't say things like that about the pronunciation of the English language. There are few globally-accepted standards of pronunciation. As long as a pronunciation is close enough that the meaning is clear and there's no jarring difference in sound, there's no problem.

For the record, the word "Thailand" hasn't come up in any of the speaking sections of English-language exams I've dealt with, but if it did, it the pronunciation of the "h" would only (possibly) be marked down in a proficiency-level exam, or maybe advanced if the student made few other mistakes. Most students have bigger things to worry about, pronunciation-wise.

And if I took such a strict attitude towards pronunciation with students, they'd never get anywhere.

I can understand people getting a little annoyed by slightly deviant pronunciations, but I don't think you can say such minor differences are wrong.

Actually, he is correct. Thomas, Thames and thyme are (I think) the only 3 words in the English language where one should never pronounce the 'th'.

Suckler

People not knowing (roughly) where countries and cities are located; A primary school teacher I know thought Wales was up beside Scotland;One guy thought New Zealand was close to New Guinea / Vietnam; A friend announced that he wanted to go to California, when asked what part - "I dunno, the best bits of the city" - Thought L.A. was one city, California another, Hollywood another city etc.

Granted there are some smaller countries I wouldn't know exact locations and borders but I'd have a fair idea of the direction I'd be heading!

Three Seasons

It causes me anxiety and deep frustration that the presenter on "Man vs food" wears a jacket when eating. It really annoys me.

andym1

maximoose wrote: »

Just tayto bags, or all other brands of crisp bags?

Back on topic: When people call all brands of crisps Tayto.

When people call every brand of vacuum cleaner a ''Hoover''

Faze11

Automatic doors or elevator doors that open to slowly.

People who stick m3/m5/gti badges on their bog standard cars.

simply simple

journey of rice from plate to my mouth via Fork

Lucena

Czarcasm wrote: »

That makes it sound like you have a lithp! :pac:

Unless you mean a thong, which goes between a girl's bum cheeks?

Wouldn't be too keen about picking up a pack of thongs from Thailand with a set of tongs now myself tbh!

I could nearly write a thong about that! :pac:

* gets coat *

FYP

Czarcasm

pitythefool wrote: »

THONGUE in cheek

That makes it sound like you have a lithp! :pac:

Unless you mean a thong, which goes between a girl's bum cheeks?

Wouldn't be too keen about picking up a pack of thongs from Thailand with a set of tongs now myself tbh!

I could nearly write a thong about that! :pac:

pitythefool

Czarcasm wrote: »

There's a couple of posters around here that are torn over the thorny issue that is proper pronunciation

Said with tongue firmly in cheek, not behind the teeth!

THONGUE in cheek

Czarcasm

osarusan wrote: »

"Pronunciation is that part of the student's English which is the same at the end of the course as it was at the beginning."

Jeremy Harmer (or was it Scott Thornbury...or Luke Prodromeau?)

There's a couple of posters around here that are torn over the thorny issue that is proper pronunciation

Said with tongue firmly in cheek, not behind the teeth!

osarusan

"Pronunciation is that part of the student's English which is the same at the end of the course as it was at the beginning."

Jeremy Harmer (or was it Scott Thornbury...or Luke Prodromeau?)

CorsetIsTight

When the 'Search' in a site's search box doesn't disappear when you click in it and you have to delete or highlight the 'Search' before you can type what you want to search for.

It's especially irritating if you don't notice and type your search, for instance 'cotton', you hit enter and you get a "No results for Seacottonrch found" message.

[Deleted User]

The King of Moo wrote: »

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. I think the "th/t" issue is a minor one. I will pull up students on pronunciation issues which cloud their meaning or make their English sound unnatural (eg. "l" and "r" being swapped, pronouncing "-ed" at the end of regular past simple/past participle forms that don't end in "d" or "t").
Otherwise, like most of my colleagues, I don't focus too much on pronunciation.

With all due respect, I think more teachers should. I don't think pronunciation ever really gets the respect it deserves. The problem is that no matter how good your grammar is, your English is always going to sound sh*t if your pronunciation is bad. A lot of students are also self conscious about practising English because they're afraid they won't be understood so it ends up affecting their fluency as well. Most of my students have been really, really happy about actively studying pronunciation and phonemics and finally understanding where they're going wrong and how they can fix it. My last school even got me to do a special pronunciation class for two hours a week and it was always packed. I think with a language like English, where the written word often doesn't resemble the spoken word, teaching pronunciation is really important. We'll have to agree to disagree, not least because this is going way off topic.

The King of Moo

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

Well, I don't agree with you. There is a line between 'regional variation' and 'incorrect pronunciation'. What I do agree with is that it's not always clear where that line is. I think it's also important to recognise when your pronunciation of a word is only used in your area. Saying that Thomas with the 'th' pronounced is a common pronunciation is just plain incorrect. It's pronounced like that by a minority of Irish people who were brought up by well-meaning parents and teachers telling them to pronounce their 'th' sounds and distinguish between 'tree' and 'three', because a lot of Irish people don't make that distinction. The problem is that sometimes 'th' is correctly pronounced as 't'. Such as in Thomas and Thailand.

I don't really get why you think it's such a minor pronunciation error. It's not really less of a big deal than any of the other common mistakes students make. Teachers always freak out about Asian students not being able to distinguish l and r, but it's usually obvious from the context which one they meant to say. Lice/rice, Thai/thigh, they're both minimal pairs. I agree that the most important thing of all is making yourself understood, but I also think good pronunciation is extremely important. I start making students aware of sounds and articulation at beginner level and I am strict about it, because I've met so many Advanced and Proficiency students with crap pronunciation and ingrained bad habits who wish they'd just learned good pronunciation from the beginning.

I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. I think the "th/t" issue is a minor one. I will pull up students on pronunciation issues which cloud their meaning or make their English sound unnatural (eg. "l" and "r" being swapped, pronouncing "-ed" at the end of regular past simple/past participle forms that don't end in "d" or "t").
Otherwise, like most of my colleagues, I don't focus too much on pronunciation.

[Deleted User]

The King of Moo wrote: »

As I've said many times before, you can't say things like that about the pronunciation of the English language. There are few globally-accepted standards of pronunciation. As long as a pronunciation is close enough that the meaning is clear and there's no jarring difference in sound, there's no problem.

For the record, the word "Thailand" hasn't come up in any of the speaking sections of English-language exams I've dealt with, but if it did, it the pronunciation of the "h" would only (possibly) be marked down in a proficiency-level exam, or maybe advanced if the student made few other mistakes. Most students have bigger things to worry about, pronunciation-wise.

And if I took such a strict attitude towards pronunciation with students, they'd never get anywhere.

I can understand people getting a little annoyed by slightly deviant pronunciations, but I don't think you can say such minor differences are wrong.

Well, I don't agree with you. There is a line between 'regional variation' and 'incorrect pronunciation'. What I do agree with is that it's not always clear where that line is. I think it's also important to recognise when your pronunciation of a word is only used in your area. Saying that Thomas with the 'th' pronounced is a common pronunciation is just plain incorrect. It's pronounced like that by a minority of Irish people who were brought up by well-meaning parents and teachers telling them to pronounce their 'th' sounds and distinguish between 'tree' and 'three', because a lot of Irish people don't make that distinction. The problem is that sometimes 'th' is correctly pronounced as 't'. Such as in Thomas and Thailand.

I don't really get why you think it's such a minor pronunciation error. It's not really less of a big deal than any of the other common mistakes students make. Teachers always freak out about Asian students not being able to distinguish l and r, but it's usually obvious from the context which one they meant to say. Lice/rice, Thai/thigh, they're both minimal pairs. I agree that the most important thing of all is making yourself understood, but I also think good pronunciation is extremely important. I start making students aware of sounds and articulation at beginner level and I am strict about it, because I've met so many Advanced and Proficiency students with crap pronunciation and ingrained bad habits who wish they'd just learned good pronunciation from the beginning.

EazyD

When I'm paying for petrol and the "regular" behind me in the queue cuts in before either myself or the till guy has a chance to talk and exclaims "I'll just leave that tenner there for ya", and saunters off, I mean really, could you not wait all of 10 seconds?Argh

The King of Moo

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

Sorry I meant the 'h', yes.

You ARE supposed to pronounce it without the h. 'Thomas' with the h pronounced is unheard of outside Ireland. If you don't believe me, ask anyone from any other English speaking nation. There IS a big difference (it's a completely different form of articulation!) and pronouncing the 'th' in Thomas by putting your tongue between your teeth sounds ridiculous to most people. Honestly.

When I first moved to Ireland, I thought people were taking the p*ss. It's not even one of those 'well, it depends on your accent' words. Pronouncing the h in Thomas is just incorrect. Same as saying Thighland for Thailand. It's not an accent, it's a mistake. A foreign student who says 'Thighland' in an English language exam will be marked down for pronunciation. It's just plain wrong. It's not an alternative pronunciation, it's not Hiberno-English, it's just wrong.

As I've said many times before, you can't say things like that about the pronunciation of the English language. There are few globally-accepted standards of pronunciation. As long as a pronunciation is close enough that the meaning is clear and there's no jarring difference in sound, there's no problem.

For the record, the word "Thailand" hasn't come up in any of the speaking sections of English-language exams I've dealt with, but if it did, it the pronunciation of the "h" would only (possibly) be marked down in a proficiency-level exam, or maybe advanced if the student made few other mistakes. Most students have bigger things to worry about, pronunciation-wise.

And if I took such a strict attitude towards pronunciation with students, they'd never get anywhere.

I can understand people getting a little annoyed by slightly deviant pronunciations, but I don't think you can say such minor differences are wrong.

jkell061

I only ever seem to walk into tables or doors when I've no shoes on n bust my toes! Never with shoes on! Wtf !

[Deleted User]

The King of Moo wrote: »

Do you mean the "h?"
Regardless, you're not "supposed" to pronounce it any particular way. "Thomas" and "Tommas" are both very common. I personally don't care how someone pronounces it as there's barely any difference in the sound.
The same goes for "Thailand." In fact, even though I know the generally-accepted standard pronunciation is not to sound the "h," I was so used to pronouncing it phonetically as a child that I still find myself sometimes pronouncing the "h."

Sorry I meant the 'h', yes.

You ARE supposed to pronounce it without the h. 'Thomas' with the h pronounced is unheard of outside Ireland. If you don't believe me, ask anyone from any other English speaking nation. There IS a big difference (it's a completely different form of articulation!) and pronouncing the 'th' in Thomas by putting your tongue between your teeth sounds ridiculous to most people. Honestly.

When I first moved to Ireland, I thought people were taking the p*ss. It's not even one of those 'well, it depends on your accent' words. Pronouncing the h in Thomas is just incorrect. Same as saying Thighland for Thailand. It's not an accent, it's a mistake. A foreign student who says 'Thighland' in an English language exam will be marked down for pronunciation. It's just plain wrong. It's not an alternative pronunciation, it's not Hiberno-English, it's just wrong.

Ihatecuddles-old

Ruudi_Mentari wrote: »

amidst a mountain of rotting oranges

I thought that only happened in my parents house!

Ruudi_Mentari

simply simple wrote: »

A big basket of fruit on the dining table with just one banana left on it

amidst a mountain of rotting oranges