BOB THE CANADIANLET’S LEARN ENGLISH!Pet Peeves (Annoying Things People Do!) [Lesson Only]
BOB THE CANADIAN
YouTube Channel
July 24, 2022
This English lesson is about pet peeves, the things that a particular person finds especially annoying. It can be people who don’t park between the lines, people who talk too loudly, people who chew gum with their mouth open, or my personal pet peeve, people who use their phone while driving.
The class will focus on pet peeves about other people’s behavior - the pet peeves we all have about things other people do. In this English lesson, we’ll learn phrases related to things people do that are annoying. More precisely, this will be an English class where Bob talks about the things other people do that he finds annoying.
In this lesson, Bob is sure we’ll learn how to talk about our pet peeves in English. He will also help us learn how to pronounce different kinds of English words and phrases related to the pet peeves.
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AUDIO/VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
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 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, that... really, um, is something that, yeah, just bothers me. Sorry, 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 center, 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 America, 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 8:30, 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 (SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU – example of a text message on the video), 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 smile face there), when I type on my phone, or when I text, or when I send an e-mail, 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 park correctly. So this is something that does drive me bonkers, 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 (showing the picture), 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 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 (showing it), you're supposed to cough into your elbow now, I think, there were new pet peeves that people developed during the pandemic. But certainly, uh, when you cough without covering your mouth, you can see in the person's mouth, and you can, uh, you know, they're expelling, um, 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, uh, 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 (showing the picture). 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, Kristen. 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 meter 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 meters 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 person 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, uh, 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, uh, 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, um, 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, um, 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 theater “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, uh, 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, um, 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, um, yeah, it's not considered polite. You will see it sometimes especially in a touristy area. You will see people, um, 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.
Uh, 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 e-mail, telemarketers. Spam e-mail, phishing scams, anything where people are trying to take advantage of you, uh, can just be, uh, yeah, too much sometimes. Uh, I get a lot of spam e-mail. Thankfully, my spam filter catches most of it, so I don't have to worry about it. But, yes, spam e-mail, 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 should 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” (showing the poster in the picture), 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 little 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 in 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, um, 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 5,000 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 seat 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, um, 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, um, 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 is the wrong word. It, the smell was too strong for me.
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