What Are Your Pet Peeves?

Why Are They Called Pet Peeves?

They’re called “pet peeves” because of how the words pet and peeve were used historically.

Pet in this phrase doesn’t mean an animal. It means something personal or especially cherished. (You can see the same meaning in phrases like pet project or pet theory.)

Peeve means to annoy or irritate. It comes from the word peevish, which has meant cranky or easily annoyed since the 1600s.

Therefore, a pet peeve is a personal annoyance. It is an irritation that’s personally important to you, even if other people don’t care about it or notice it much.

The phrase became popular in the early 1900s, especially in newspapers and magazines that asked readers to share their “pet peeves.”

What Is A Pet Peeve?

A pet peeve is something that someone does that annoys you to a greater degree than it affects others. Everyone has a pet peeve, whether they admit it or not. And everyone does something that annoys others, whether they are aware of it or not.

So what makes you cringe when people do it? And what do you do about those pet peeves that annoy you? Well, you have choices. You can grin and bear it. Or you can bring it to the person's attention. The fallacy with the latter choice is that sometimes, when you bring something to people's attention, they do it even more.

My Pet Peeves

While a pet peeve is a personal thing, there are some pet peeves that are common with most people. Here are some of my top pet peeves.

I don't like it when someone takes over a conversation I've started. It bothers me tremendously when someone hijacks my conversation.

It annoys me when people eat while talking to me on the telephone. I could understand it better if I called someone and caught them off guard while they were eating. However, I cannot tolerate it when someone deliberately calls me, then opens up a bag of chips, and begins eating.

I was recently called to complete a telephone survey, and it was evident that the caller was eating. I kindly told him it was rude, and I preferred not to conduct a survey while he was eating. He apologized, but he should have known better. Needless to say, that was one survey he did not complete.

One-upmanship is a pet peeve that I detest like a plague. For instance, if I share with someone what is going on with me, and that person tries to top it with something that is going on with him.

Cross-talking is another pet peeve that bothers me a lot. That happens when several people in a group are talking at the same time, and I can't understand what any of them are saying.

Also, it annoys me when I am talking in a group, and no one seems to be paying attention.

Hearing loud music at the stoplight is something I wish I didn't have to endure. No matter how beautiful the music is, I don't want to hear someone else's.

It bothers me when people don't keep their promises to me.

I am sure there are others like me who become annoyed when people lie to them.

When people make me wait for them is unacceptable because my time is valuable. Besides, I am almost always on time.

Oprah Winfrey's Pet Peeve

Oprah Winfrey said in interviews that her pet peeve is seeing people chew gum around her. She dislikes it so much that she banned gum chewing in all her offices.

She explained that after her grandmother chewed gum, she would take it out of her mouth and stick it on cabinets, bedposts, and furniture with the intent of chewing it again.

Oprah said whenever she walked through the house, she would rub up against the gum, and it made her feel icky. Every time she sees someone chewing gum, it reminds her of those days long ago when her grandmother recycled her chewing gum.

Question

If what people do to annoy us is called a pet peeve, what is it called when a pet annoys another pet? Is it a human peeve?

Survey: What is your pet peeve?

• 33% — Someone lying to you
• 17% — Hearing loud music at the stop sign
• 17% — People making you wait for them
• 17% — Someone breaking their promises to you
• 8% — Someone hijacking your conversation
• 8% — One-upmanship
• 0% — Cross-talking
• 0% — Someone eating while talking to you on the telephone
• 0% — People not paying attention when you are talking
• 0% — Seeing people chew gum