Let's Learn English! Topic: Pet Peeves (Annoying Things People Do!) 😠📵📱 (Lesson Only)

Well hello and welcome to this English lesson about pet

peeves. If you don't know the term pet peeves. A pet peeve

is something that bothers you. Um there might be things in

life that you really enjoy. But there's also things in life

that bother you. They bug you. They make you annoyed. In this

particular lesson I'm going to be talking about pet peeves.

That I have. Uh pet peeves that things that other people do

that annoy me. And I think you'll be some of these will be

familiar to you. Not all of these are things that annoy me.

But in this English lesson I'll talk about some very common pet

peeves that other people have. And and I'll mention which ones

are ones that also bother me. Most of these bother me as

well. Please pay attention during the lesson to the

phrases I use when I talk about each pet peeve. I'm going to

say things like that bothers me. That drives me nuts. That

drives me crazy. Really is something that yeah just

bothers me. Sorry I'm I'm forgetting the phrases that I

had memorized for this lesson. But anyways I think you know

the point welcome to this English lesson about pet

peeves. So here's the first one. Telemarketers. So lately

at my house one of the things that has really been bothering

me. One of the things that annoys me is when the phone

rings and it's someone trying to sell me something. A

telemarketer someone who works in a call centre and they just

phone people randomly and try to sell them something. The

last phone call I got from a telemarketer I think was

actually a scam. A scam is when they tried to trick you into

giving them money. But telemarketers are annoying.

Telemarketers really bother me. Um this particular scam they

wanted me to verify that I had gotten a payment from the

government and they wanted me to give them all my bank

information so they could verify it too and at which

point I said you are trying to scam me. So some telemarketers

are just trying to sell you something but some

telemarketers I think are trying to scam you. I guess

technically that's not a telemarketer that's just a

scammer. Anyways I don't like it when the phone rings and

it's someone trying to sell me something. People who chew

loudly. Oh little bit too big there. People who chew loudly

or chew with their mouth open. So Brent mentioned this in the

chat earlier. In North in particular and I don't know

what the tradition is in your country or what is considered

polite. But in North America we usually chew with our mouths

closed. If I take a bite I usually chew with my mouth

closed. It's considered polite. But chewing with your mouth

open is not polite. And chewing loudly is not considered polite

in North America. And it can really really bother people. I

know that for me when my kids chew with their mouths open I

usually say hey please chew with your mouth closed. Because

that is the thing to do. Um people who text and drive or

use a phone while driving. This one is a particularly annoying

thing for me. I like to go for a walk every morning along my

road. And I've noticed a couple of things. One is people drive

too fast. That bothers me. But I also notice a lot of people

driving with their head down. So they're driving like this.

So I'm assuming they're on their phone. They're probably

texting and driving. Very very dangerous. Um I'm always

worried that one of them will lose control of their car and

get into an accident. But definitely People who text and

drive or use a phone while driving is kind of a it's

something that I wish would just stop. There's a big fine

by the way in Canada for doing that. I think it's a four

hundred dollar fine if you get caught. People who are always

late this is another one that bothers me. I am generally on

time. I would say 95% of the time. If I need to go somewhere

I arrive on time. If I need to be somewhere at nine I get

there at five to nine. If I need to be at work at 830 I get

there at eight twenty-five. I like to be on time and I have a

little phrase I think my mom used to say this. Five minutes

early is on time. Either my mom or dad would say that. Um so I

believe that when you arrive somewhere a couple minutes

early you're actually on time. So when I'm sitting in a

meeting and there's supposed to be 10 people in the meeting and

only three people are there. That annoys me a little bit.

This is a new one. People who forget to mute their mic during

a Zoom meeting. So if you've been in a Zoom meeting or any

kind of meeting like this maybe with Microsoft teams or any

other Skype any other meeting Product. Sometimes people leave

their mic open. They don't turn their mic off. They don't mute

their mic. And so two other people in the meeting are

talking and you can hear their dog barking or their kids

fighting in the background. So it's polite to hit mute on your

microphone when you are in a meeting. Uh and some people

forget to do that. And that can be that can be a little

annoying. Um some people do it repeatedly. Some people I won't

mention any names because that would be rude. But I go to

meetings like this sometimes and there are one or two People

who almost always forget to turn their mic off. Uh people

who don't use their turn signal or people who leave their turn

signal on. So notice I'm saying I'm annoying with the person

because most of these things are actions that people do. But

sometimes people drive in front of you and they have their turn

signal on and they don't ever turn. That that's a little

annoying. Sometimes people just turn without using their turn

signal and that can be frustrating as well. So you

could say it's annoying. It's frustrating. It drives you

crazy when people do those kinds of things. People who use

their phone when you are talking to them or when you're

trying to talk to them. Sometimes we're driving along

and I'll be talking to Jen. And then after a few minutes I'll

notice she's not responding and I'll look over and realize that

she's on her phone. This does not happen very often. But when

people use their phone when you're trying to talk to them

or when you are talking to them. Uh it can be frustrating.

Um I know in particular when you go to a restaurant and

you're there to enjoy each other's company. So you're

there to Have conversation. Uh it can be aggravating when

someone is using their phone because you've decided to go

out and spend money to spend time together. It can be a

little bit annoying. People who type in all caps. So by the way

on the internet if you type something like I'm going to

type in the chat if I typed this in the chat. People

there's a bit of a delay so they might not see it. But that

would be considered yelling. Um so for me when I type I'm just

going to put a there. When I type on my phone or when I text

or when I send an email I don't ever use all caps because it

feels like the person is yelling at you. So something

that can be a little bit annoying or an aggravating is

when people type using all caps. People who drive with

their windows down and play music really loud. So there's a

few ways to say this. You could say people who play loud music

while driving with their windows down. I'm sure you have

heard this before sometimes when you're at the mall or

maybe even in your own neighborhood. You hear this

thumping sound like boom boom boom boom and a car comes down

the street with the windows down and really loud blaring

music playing. This can be Yeah it can be it can be really

bother some if you're sleeping and you hear this. Maybe you're

trying to have a nap in the afternoon or it's evening and

you're trying to sleep and all of the sudden you hear loud

music. Very very annoying. People who don't return their

shopping cart. So it's considered polite to return

your shopping cart to a cart corral. That's what we call

them. Or to the front of the grocery store. Some people

though just leave their cart in the middle of the parking lot.

Not a very nice thing to do. Um because then the next person

who wants to park there can't and might need to get out of

their vehicle in order to park. We actually have a grocery

store where you put a doll coin in to get a cart and when you

return your cart you get your dollar back. So they've created

a way to encourage people to return their shopping carts.

People who always have the same problem as you. Have you ever

had a headache? And then maybe you have a friend where when

you say oh I have a bad headache they say oh I have a

bad headache too. Or maybe you've been in a small car

accident and you say oh I've I've gotten a car accident. My

car is a dent and then they tell a story about how their

car never starts. So sometimes people don't listen. Sometimes

when you tell them one of the problems you're having in life

they just share their problem instead. When all you wanted

was to have someone listen to you. I sometimes do this when I

reply to comments by the way. Someone will say something and

I'll just talk about myself in my reply. I'll try not to do

that as much. People who can't part correctly. So this is

something that does drive me does drive me nuts. When I go

to the grocery store and sometimes there aren't enough

parking spots and I find one but the person has parked like

this person and I can't fit my vehicle in. Or when I park and

then someone parks really close beside me and I can't get my

door open when I come back from the store. Uh that would that

would drive me crazy. So if you're someone who drives

please please park correctly. People will appreciate it.

People who slurp when they drink. So when I first started

doing live streams

When I took a sip of water I would slurp. Sorry about that.

That was just an example. And very quickly in the comments a

lot of people would mention please stop drinking while

doing your live lesson. Please stop slurping your water when

you're doing your live lesson. So now when I take a sip I try

not to. I try to take a sip quietly. But for some people

this doesn't bother me too much. But for some people the

slurping sound. Isn't that a fun word? The slurping sound is

annoying for them. Uh people who smoke in a non-smoking

area. So in Canada there are very few places you can smoke

now. You cannot smoke inside any public building. You can

smoke in your home if you want. Uh but sometimes people will

smoke in a Place where there's signs saying no smoking.

They'll just they'll smoke a cigarette and they just don't

care. Um not very nice. Not a nice thing to do and I wish

people would stop doing that. Um we sell flowers at a farmers

market. And you can smoke outside the market but inside

the market I you're not supposed to. And people still

do. So it's a little bit I wish someone would just tell them to

stop. So I mentioned this one the sound of chalk squeaking on

a chalkboard or nails on a chalkboard. This can really set

people off. Um when you say something sets someone off it

makes them have a negative emotional reaction. This can

even make people angry. The sound of nails on a chalkboard.

It goes screech. I don't know if you've ever heard it. Uh

people who use both armrests. Have you ever been on an

airplane or in a movie theater and there's only one armrest

between the seats and immediately the person beside

you uses both of them? Uh sometimes on an airplane as

well this will happen. Someone will use the entire armrest

when they should be sharing a little piece of it. Um it's

best just to decide early on how you're going to share the

armrest I think. Uh people who cough without covering their

mouth. Now this picture is old you're supposed to cough into

your elbow now. I think there were new pet peeves that people

developed during the pandemic. But certainly when you cough

without covering your mouth. You can see in the person's

mouth and you can you know they're expelling I'm trying to

think. I want to say molecules. Vapor they're expelling vapor

and just not a nice thing. So please if you don't want to

annoy people cover your mouth when you cough. This was

mentioned earlier by someone. People who stopped suddenly

when walking in front of you. I think this has become more of a

problem with phones. I was walking the other day on the

sidewalk and the person in front of me was on their phone.

And they did this. All of a sudden they just stopped

walking. And I almost bumped into them. So maybe a new pet

peeve for me. Um I walk a lot more now. And sometimes I walk

in town. So people who stop suddenly in front of me are

very very frustrating. People who cut in line or jump the

queue. So yes in North America it is considered polite to wait

in line it is considered polite to not jump the queue. I know

this is different in different countries but certainly if you

are in North America if there is a line you join the line at

the end and you wait your turn. That's how things work. If you

try to join the line further up people are going to get very

very angry with you. So don't cut in line. Um and don't don't

try to get ahead of other people. Not very nice thing to

do. Uh people who misspell your name. So this is kind of a

joke. No one has ever spelt Bob with two Bs. But sometimes you

have a complicated name. Um so for instance Bob is an easy

name. It's not misspelled very often. But let's say your name

was I'm trying to think of a name. Um Kristin. There's a

number of different ways to spell Kristen. It's very

important for me as a teacher to learn how to spell my

students names so that I don't make a mistake. But it can be

annoying when someone misspells your name. People who stand too

close. So this is another thing that's new ish. Um by the way

we add ish to words sometimes to like it's new but not really

but sort of new. Newish. Um this was a pet peeve before the

pandemic. But now it's even more of a pet peeve. The other

day I was at a store and I stood about a metre and a half

behind the person in front of me. But then behind me a man

stood right behind me. Which in my opinion is still too close.

I actually like standing two metres apart from people.

That's I'm comfortable standing that far apart. So but people

who stand too close and also people who talk too close.

Sometimes a per will come and talk to me and they'll stand

too close to me and it is uncomfortable. People who

interrupt you while you are talking. I do this to other

people. So I'm guilty of this. I'm sure for someone else I'm

annoying. I'm sure that they're like whenever I talk to Bob

he's always interrupting me. But yes people who interrupt

you while you are talking can be frustrating and annoying.

Bad Wi-Fi in a public place. Bad Wi-Fi anywhere. I think in

this day and age you just expect to be connected. So when

my phone doesn't work somewhere. It's frustrating. I

was at market the other day and I wanted to upload a picture of

the market and my Wi-Fi or my internet was bad at the market.

So that was a little bit annoying. At school if the

Wi-Fi is flaky one day it when you say flaky that means it's

it works and stops and works and stops so it was flaky. Uh

students get almost get angry. They're so upset when the Wi-Fi

doesn't work. So Wi-Fi is an important thing to keep people

happy now. People who sing along to songs whether you're

driving or at home sometimes you just want to listen to the

song. But your friend or your sibling, your brother or sister

might just love singing out loud. So people who sing along

to songs can be annoying when you just want to listen to it.

I don't do this. I do not sing along to songs. But yeah if

you're a good singer I guess it would be nice. But Yeah I I I

do not enjoy this one. People who talk in the theater during

a movie. Now one of the things that I find is when I go to see

a movie I pay a lot of money to see the movie and to hear the

movie. I don't pay a lot of money to listen to someone

behind me talk during the movie. So sometimes people ask

questions during the movie. Sometimes people just talk

about other things. So I actually prefer to watch movies

home now. I just find it a lot more relaxing because people

tend to talk in the theater. When a phone rings during a

movie so this is very very similar. There's warnings at

the beginning of a movie in the theatre please turn off your

cell phones I'll be honest I don't turn off my cell phone. I

just turn the ringer off. Um but when a phone rings during a

movie when you go it's it's annoying. When you go to a

movie you want to forget about life and just enjoy the movie.

And when a phone rings it can take away that enjoyment. So

not not a nice thing to have happen. Uh people who take too

many selfies. So I have one friend who I think every

picture they take is a selfie. And even if you're somewhere

really nice they take a selfie. And sometimes I think well why

don't you just take a picture of the beautiful waterfall. Why

don't you just take a picture of the city you're in. Why why

are you always why are you always doing this? It's always

like phone. It's always like that. But I do it myself as

well. I do take selfies sometimes. Um mostly if I'm

posting for all of you I will take a selfie so that people

can see where I am in the world. Pda public display of

affection. I actually got this wrong in a lesson a few months

ago and then Mode Aggs corrected me. Uh but a PDA is a

public display of affection. That means hugging or kissing

in public. Generally in North America if you are walking

around with someone who you like romantically. Holding

hands is usually fine. Um walking with your arm around

someone is fairly common. Uh but hugging and kissing in

public is considered a public display affection. Um so yeah

it's not it's not yeah it's not considered polite. You will see

it sometimes especially in a touristy area. You will see

people showing affection in public. But generally not

something you see a lot of. Uh people who eat your food from

the fridge at work. So we have a fridge at work. I don't know

if you have a fridge at work. A refrigerator. When I bring my

lunch to school I put it in the fridge. Sometimes other people

will eat other people's food. I hope I explain that correctly.

Sometimes people will put food in the fridge and other people

will eat it. It doesn't happen very often but it can be

annoying. When I was in college I had a roommate who often ate

my food. That was Eventually I had to talk to him about it

because it was very very very annoying. Let's see here.

People who put gum under a table or bench when they are

done chewing it. I it grosses me out. So that means it makes

me like like I almost feel sick when I sit on a park bench and

I put my hands on the edge and I feel gum underneath. I do not

like it. This is probably one of my biggest pet peeves. When

you sit in a chair or when you sit at a table or when you sit

on a park bench and then you realize there is gum

underneath. It's very very it's gross. That's the word we would

use in English. It's very gross. Bad drivers bad drivers

I think this is everyone's pet peeve. I think everyone in the

world thinks they're a good driver. And they think everyone

else is a bad driver and bad drivers annoying them. So

definitely for me I don't like bad drivers. I when I'm going

somewhere especially when I had little kids in the van with me

when my kids were little. Um bad drivers would really really

bother me and make me angry actually when I would get cut

off or when someone was driving Way over the speed limit that

would always really really annoy me. Uh we mentioned this

a little bit. People who don't actually listen when you are

talking to them. Uh I have this there's a couple people I know

who do this where when I'm talking to them when I'm done

saying what I'm saying they just talk about something else

or they talk about themselves. It's kind of strange actually.

Uh a person who is always the expert on any topic You know

this is such a funny annoyance in life that a lot of

television shows will have a character who plays this role.

I think Dwight on the office was kind of this way. He always

knew everything. Um and there's a few other shows where they'll

they'll have someone who's always the expert. And and it's

they put a person in the show like that because it's funny.

But in real life it's not as funny. Um at a previous job I

worked with someone who was like this. No matter what we

talked about they thought they knew more than everyone else

and it was a little bit aggravating. Spam email,

telemarketers, spam email, phishing scams, anything where

people are trying to take advantage of you can just be

yeah too much sometimes. Uh I get a lot of spam email.

Thankfully my spam filter catches most of it so I don't

have to worry about it. But yes spam email you know a long time

ago before spam filters worked well. It was really annoying.

Uh people who walk their dog and don't clean up after it. So

dogs poop. And you clean up your poop. You should have a

pooper scooper when you take your dog for a walk. You should

have little bags to put the poop in because you shouldn't

leave it at the park. You shouldn't leave it on the

sidewalk. So you can see this scoop your pet's poop. Someone

has put a sign up because obviously someone is not doing

that. So please if you are a pet owner clean up after your

pet. It's everyone will be happy if you do that. Uh people

who flick their cigarette butts on the ground. So smoking is

already a bit annoying. But people who smoke and when

they're done they flick their cigarette. Can you tell I used

to smoke? So you smoke and then you flick your cigarette but I

maybe I did that when I was younger. We'll see. Um but

people who flick their cigarette butts on the ground.

This is also dangerous in some parts of the world. It rained

here recently. But before Monday if you flicked your

cigarette butt here you might have started a grass fire

because things were starting to get very very dry. This part.

But thankfully it rained on Monday and it rained on

Wednesday. We got two nice rain showers. So everything's

growing really well again. People who litter so this is

related to flickering a cigarette but but sometimes

you'll go to a public park you'll go to a public place and

there will be garbage on the ground. Uh there will be litter

everywhere. And there might even be garbage cans and

recycling and recycle bins. But people don't use them. So it's

annoying when people do this. Um we have taught our children

not to do this. I hope when they are adults and live out of

our house that they don't start littering. Um when I walk along

the road the ditch is filled with litter. I know you think

Canada is a beautiful country. And it is. But if you look in

certain places you will see litter and it's really really

annoying. When when people show you 5000 pictures of their

vacation. So yes sometimes people go on vacation.

Sometimes when they come back they show you some pictures and

it's nice. But there are certain people who like to show

you every picture. Like and then we visited this house and

this was their living room and this was their kitchen. And

this is their backyard and this is where they it at night. Oh

and this is funny. This is a little lawn ornament they had.

A little small gnome in their yard. You're going to have to

look up yard ornaments and gnome. Um sometimes people go

on vacation and they simply show you way too many pictures

when they get back. And then perfume or cologne that is too

strong. This is one of my bigger pet peeves. I have a

very good sense of smell. Um probably because my nose is

bigger than other people. I don't I'm just kidding. But

when people wear a lot of perfume or cologne it bothers

me. I don't mind a little bit of perfume or cologne.

Sometimes when you go somewhere it's pleasant. But sometimes

people you know they squirt a whole bunch on themselves. Or

they're wearing too much and it's overwhelming. So that is

definitely a pet peeve of mine. Too much perfume or too much

cologne. By the way women wear perfume and men wear cologne.

And I'll pronounce that one more time. Cologne. I don't

wear cologne by the way. I think when I was younger I did

for a bit. But wearing cologne myself was was too smelly.

Smelly's the wrong word. It the smell was too strong for me.