How to Talk about Feeling Annoyed in English | 11 New Expressions

Hey, I'm Annmarie with Speak Confident English. I don't know about you,

but here are three things I find particularly annoying. Number one,

a clicking pen during a meeting or a class.

That one really bothers me.

The second thing I find annoying is loud chewing or drinking.

For example,

someone slurping through a straw when there's nothing

left in the cup.

The third thing I find annoying is someone else leaving dirty dishes in the

sink. When it comes to things that annoy us at work and at home,

there's an endless list of possibilities,

and of course when you feel annoyed, you could use those words,

I'm annoyed or I feel annoyed.

You could also use a rich variety of expressions that better

convey the level of your annoyance, providing more specificity,

precision, and maybe even humor. In this confident English lesson today,

you'll learn 11 common expressions.

English speakers use to indicate their annoyance,

including how to hint at a little bit of annoyance,

how to explicitly or directly state that you feel

annoyed, and finally,

how to warn others that they need to stop because it's become a little too

much.

But first, if you don't already know, I am Annemarie,

an English confidence and fluency coach.

Everything I do is designed to help you get the confidence you want for your

life and work in English. So while you're here,

make sure you subscribe to my Speak Confident English channel on YouTube so you

never miss one of my Confident English lessons.

Let's jump right into our first category of expressions you can use to

hint at your annoyance.

The first is to have a bone to pick with someone.

This means to have a reason to disagree or be annoyed

by someone else.

Let's take a look at how it's used in an example sentence.

I'm glad we can spend some time together today,

but I have a bone to pick with you about something you said yesterday.

If someone has a bone to pick with you about something you said

yesterday, it means they're annoyed or frustrated.

They're still thinking about something that was said and they need to talk about

it in order to clear the air or move on.

The second expression you can use to hint at feeling annoyed is

to drive somebody up a wall.

This means to make someone feel irritated or annoyed.

It can be a thing that drives you up the wall or it can be a person.

For example,

the noise from the lawnmower is driving me up a wall while I'm trying to work.

Can you please wait until this evening to cut the grass?

The next one on our list is interesting because it's more of a response to

something someone says that irritates or annoys us and

it has very particular pronunciation. The expression,

what's that supposed to mean?

Notice my strong emphasis on the word that. What's that supposed to mean?

We use this question in response to someone who says something

that annoys us, irritates us, or maybe even makes us a bit angry.

For example, imagine someone at work makes a rude or inappropriate comment

about a recent promotion you received,

and when you hear that comment you might say, what's that supposed to mean?

In doing so,

you're expressing your annoyance and looking for clarification as well.

The last example for this particular category is to test or

try one's patients.

This means that something has been going on for too long and it's

beginning to annoy you. It's those first steps into feeling annoyed.

For example,

Victoria is beginning to test my patients with all her last minute changes

to our travel plans,

and now let's move on to category number two with expressions that allow you to

be more direct or more obvious in your annoyance.

The first one is to get on somebody's nerves.

This means to become extremely annoyed by someone or something,

for example.

That was an inappropriate comment and you're really getting on my nerves now.

The next on our list is for crying out loud.

This exclamation is used to informally emphasize your

annoyance. For example,

if someone does something continuously or if an annoying situation persists,

you might exclaim for crying out loud to express how

annoyed you're becoming. For example, oh, for crying out loud,

how much longer do we have to wait in this line?

In the preceding expression we talked about to get on one's nerves,

a similar expression is to be sick and tired of something or

someone.

If something gets on your nerves or if you're sick and tired of something,

you're truly annoyed. For example,

imagine being at the airport when there are nonstop delays in a

conversation with someone, you might say,

I'm sick and tired of all these delays. When's the next flight?

And our final expression for this category on how to be direct or explicit

when expressing your annoyance is to have had it up to

here with someone or something.

This is used to express extreme annoyance with someone or

something that persists. For example, at work,

you might hear someone say,

I've had it up to here with his constant complaining.

Let me ask you for a moment,

is there a situation happening right now at work or at home that

has persisted for far too long and you're feeling extremely annoyed?

If so, you can try using that particular expression in an example,

and as always, you can share it with me in the comments below.

I have one more category I want to share with you on expressions you can use to

warn others that it's time to stop. But before I do,

if you enjoy lessons like this,

I have two more lessons I would recommend for you. First,

I have a lesson on 21 idioms you can use to express feelings of joy,

calm, frustration, and anger.

I'll leave a link to that lesson in the notes below the video.

In addition to that,

I have a lesson with advanced love of vocabulary on how to describe your

feelings. In that lesson, you'll find phrasal, verbs,

idioms collocations and more. Again,

I'll leave a link just below the notes in this video.

In addition to all of that,

if you love learning real life English vocabulary and want the opportunity

to practice with others,

you might consider joining my Confident Women Community. Inside the community,

e provide new learning materials every month with weekly practice

activities, real conversation practice, live workshops,

and continuous support from me and my team with step-by-step

guidance. You always have clarity on what to learn and what to practice,

and you're certain to make progress. If you want to learn more,

you can click on the description link down below the video.

And now three final expressions you can use to express annoyance and in this

third category will focus on expressions you can use to warn others that

it is time to stop. You have truly had it up to here.

The first in this category is to give it a rest.

We use this to ask someone to stop talking about something or stop doing

something because we've become overly annoyed.

For example,

perhaps you have a family member who really doesn't know what your financial

circumstances are and they keep pushing you or encouraging you to buy a

house. Eventually, you might become annoyed by this topic and say, all right,

let's give it a rest. You've made your point.

A similar expression is to give me a break. Once again,

this is used to indicate that someone or something has been happening

persistently and it's time to stop. You're done, you're finished.

You are beyond annoyed. For example,

if you have a teenage daughter who keeps bothering you even after you've

explicitly told her that you're in a business meeting and cannot be interrupted,

you might of course feel annoyed and later say,

I told you I was in a business meeting and that I could not be bothered.

Give me a break.

And number 11 on our list today is to get off someone's back.

If someone you know well persists in criticizing you,

telling you what to do or putting pressure on you in some way,

you're likely to get annoyed and you can respond to them with Get

Off my Back. It's quite strong and very informal,

but it lets someone know that it is time to stop. For example,

imagine you're helping a friend prepare food for her kid's birthday party

and due to stress, your friend is pestering you, telling you to work faster,

work harder to get more done. After a while, it starts to annoy you.

At some point, you might decide to say, get off my back.

I'm working as fast as I can. With that,

you have 11 useful expressions to indicate your level of annoyance

with someone or something,

and now I have two questions for you to consider to help you practice.

Number one,

I want you to choose your favorite expression from today's lesson and try using

it in your own example.

Consider situations at work or at home that cause annoyance

and reflect on the level of annoyance you feel.

Is it mildly annoying or is it time for someone to

stop because you've reached the limit?

Choose your favorite expression and share it with me in the comments below.

My second question for you is,

are there other expressions that you've heard in English that indicate

annoyance?

Perhaps there's an expression you have a question about and I'd be happy to

provide clarity on what it means and how to use it.

You can share with me in the comments below.

You might also have an expression that I didn't highlight here that would be

useful for other students in the Speak Confident English community to become

familiar with. Again, you can share your example in the comments section below.

Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for watching this lesson.

Thank you for subscribing to my Speak Confident English Channel on YouTube.

I truly appreciate it and I look forward to seeing you in my next Confident

English lesson.