Trivial things that annoy you

Firblog

Lucena wrote: »

Look, for a lot of people, it's their accent. .

Please let me know in which part of the country the people speak with this accent and I'll avoid it (and most likely you).
I've met Japanese ppl who can pronounce L's and Germans who can pronounce W's despite not having those sounds in their native language, because they put in a bit of effort and LEARNED how to do it.
Surely someone who is speaking for a living can spend a few hours with a coach who will teach them to how pronounce words beginning with TH properly ffs how hard can it be?

Lucena

Firblog wrote: »

Please let me know in which part of the country the people speak with this accent and I'll avoid it (and most likely you).
I've met Japanese ppl who can pronounce L's and Germans who can pronounce W's despite not having those sounds in their native language, because they put in a bit of effort and LEARNED how to do it.
Surely someone who is speaking for a living can spend a few hours with a coach who will teach them to how pronounce words beginning with TH properly ffs how hard can it be?

Explain to me why I should have to "learn" how to speak in my native language. Sure, a German or a Japanese person should try to speak with a standard accent as much as possible. I don't have to.

I have no sense of cultural inferiority regarding the way I speak, I'm as educated as most people, and educated enough to know that people from different regions/countries don't speak exactly the same way.
Would you tell an American or an Indian to change the way they speak? (I'm guessing no). So why should I have to?

Czarcasm

Firblog wrote: »

Please let me know in which part of the country the people speak with this accent and I'll avoid it (and most likely you).

You should probably avoid the midlands then, especially Laois where "buhher" is quite common, as well as many other "silent t" words. It was actually my history teacher from Kerry who pointed this out to me because I commented on his sharp accent. He referred to my accent as "dull"

My brother in a ridiculous attempt to combat the missing "th", used pronounce them as "V", so he'd come out with classic clangers like "pass veh buh-her" (This is a chap who spent years with a speech therapist to get rid of his "wasbewwy" pronunciation).

I can only remember one chap in my class in school who to be fair to you had the most admirably perfect diction, so there are exceptions to the accent rule. His parents were not from Laois though.

You should probably avoid a spudmuncher like me like the plague tbh!

I've met Japanese ppl who can pronounce L's and Germans who can pronounce W's despite not having those sounds in their native language, because they put in a bit of effort and LEARNED how to do it.

Now anyone will tell you I detest grammar and spelling pedants, but if you're talking about people making an effort with the language, then surely you should lead by example. Otherwise you need to dismount the high horse.

I actually DO make a conscious effort to speak with a neutral accent, when it matters- in conference with business colleagues, speaking to an audience at various seminars, that sort of thing, but my speech pattern reverts back to it's natural state when I'm talking amongst friends, because I can communicate effectively enough that they get the general idea of what I'm saying without me having to adjust my speech pattern.

Surely someone who is speaking for a living can spend a few hours with a coach who will teach them to how pronounce words beginning with TH properly ffs how hard can it be?

Incredibly hard, I can tell you, especially when you're asking people to adjust to a way of thinking and speaking that doesn't come naturally to them. My brother still enunciates like Elmer Fudd, but at least nowadays he's dropped the "veh".


One of the most important things to remember when speaking is not your pronunciation, but actually making sure your message is understood, and one of my favorite, more effective acronyms, to help you keep this in mind is-


KISS: Keep It Simple, Sweetheart.

OldNotWIse

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

People who bring dogs into shops

Guilty as charged Although it's only in the local where the guys working in there are cool with it. I dont really give a sh1t what the customers in that particular shop think or say since most of them are either ten year old kids going in to rob stuff or hurl racial abuse at the staff or cycle around the shop on their bikes or hatchet faced drunken, pj sporting terrors that have mostly been barred anyway

Tisserand

OldNotWIse wrote: »

Guilty as charged Although it's only in the local where the guys working in there are cool with it. I dont really give a sh1t what the customers in that particular shop think or say since most of them are either ten year old kids going in to rob stuff or hurl racial abuse at the staff or cycle around the shop on their bikes or hatchet faced drunken, pj sporting terrors that have mostly been barred anyway

Me too. If I am taking the dog out for a walk, I will carry him in my arms into the newsagents to do the lotto or buy a newspaper. I always expect to be told I can't bring him it and apologise profusely while doing my purchase but instead the staff just coo over him and rub his head and tell me how cut he is!

OldNotWIse

Tisserand wrote: »

Me too. If I am taking the dog out for a walk, I will carry him in my arms into the newsagents to do the lotto or buy a newspaper. I always expect to be told I can't bring him it and apologise profusely while doing my purchase but instead the staff just coo over him and rub his head and tell me how cut he is!

haha yeah mine is a smallie too so I guess that helps. Especially when she has her little rainjacket and harness on I always carry her too, wouldnt let her walk around sniffing stuff. Problem you end up trying to do everything with one had. Then the gremlin turns around in my arms and starts licking my face - nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sitec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgpFwzEwZa4

Firblog

Czarcasm wrote: »

You should probably avoid the midlands then, especially Laois .

I do I do

Czarcasm wrote: »

Now anyone will tell you I detest grammar and spelling pedants, .

I asked and no one knew who you were

Czarcasm wrote: »

I actually DO make a conscious effort to speak with a neutral accent.

It's not an 'accent' - Bertie was born an bred in Dublin, not the midlands.


http://youtu.be/IvvwNR3vF44

Ihatecuddles-old

When I'm sitting on the floor with My knees bent, and My feet keep sliding. So annoying.

Same with resting my foot on something, like a stool. It's too light and the weight of my leg makes it slide away. Makes me want to cry.

Teyla Emmagan

Lucena wrote: »

Define "properly".

Making an effort to sound out all the letters that are supposed to be audible for a start.

Czarcasm

Firblog wrote: »

I asked and no one knew who you were

Oh that's clever, quaff, quaff *adjusts monocle*. I know too why you highlighted the word grammar as if to imply my use of the word was incorrect, but I think you'll find if you look it up that the word grammer is incorrect. As trivial things go, the least you could do is check you are correct yourself before you try to correct someone elses grammar and spelling.

It's not an 'accent' - Bertie was born an bred in Dublin, not the midlands.

Come on, one individual? From Drumcondra? Wedged in there between an affluent Clontarf accent and a Finglas working class accent? He was bound to have grown up influenced by one or the other.

In fact Bertie is a terrible example for you as he is a well educated individual who held one of the top political positions in the country, but chose to keep his working class accent to pass himself off as "a man of the ordinary people". Bill Cullen and Joe Duffy are two other examples of "man of the ordinary people" who chose to keep their liberties linguistics because it suited them to do so.

Your individual example of Bertie is about as valid as my example of the chap in my class in secondary school who was from the same social background as myself yet whose diction was far more eloquent.

Now it comes to mind actually I'm reminded of numerous children I've met that speak with a Dallas drawl from watching "Bear in the Big Blue House", not because they can't speak properly, but because it's the accent they are accustomed to most hearing-

the accent that they are brought up with, and the accent I was brought up with was a silent t and dropping the th for a hard d.


OT but I defy you to keep a straight face when you ask your German or Japanese colleagues to pronounce the word "focus". Non-English speakers will hear themselves say "fùckus" and think they have repeated and pronounced it correctly.

Firblog

Looks like we'll have to agree to differ over the use/meaning of the word grammar in that context, and whole accent/not an accent issue also.

Arguing about trivial things that annoy me, is yet another trivial thing that gets on my wick

Cookie_Monster

kingtut wrote: »

Even if its a guide dog

no, just normal non-dayglow dogs

youtube!

PaulieC wrote: »

[*

]people who say hubby
[*]Rachel from the radio ad about breastfeeding
[*]Radio ads that use completely unnecessary sound effects. We know that petrol makes an engine go, no need to have the sound of an engine starting
[*]People who say leave instead of let e.g. "don't leave him in, he's a bogey"
[*]people at red lights who forget they are driving a car and get distracted so when the lights turn green they don't move for ages
[*]general cµnts
[*]people who walk about holding their phones up at arm's length while talking through a headset of Bluetooth. Usually people who own iPhones or Galaxy SIII, but lately it's people who own Galaxy Notes.
[*]People who think that having an app on their phone makes them a more interesting person
[*]FB people who Like and Share posts about 500 free iphones or ipads because they are unsealed and can't be sold.
apart from that I'm pretty laid back

Or even worse when he calls her "wifey" and she calls him "hubby" I know a married couple on FB who put it in every sentence absolute bellends, come to think of it I am going to de-friend them now,every time I see their sickly little trivial posts in my newsfeed I get really angry! Actually in real life they are knobs too,why are they even my friends? Anyway no more!

ISDW

Lucena wrote: »

Explain to me why I should have to "learn" how to speak in my native language. Sure, a German or a Japanese person should try to speak with a standard accent as much as possible. I don't have to.

I thought this was about the English language and the way some Irish people speak it? How is English our native language?

Lucena

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Making an effort to sound out all the letters that are supposed to be audible for a start.

Effort: why should I as long as I'm understood?
Supposed to be: according to who? L'académie Anglaise doesn't exist. Not that French-speakers listen much to the French version.

Different regions, countries etc have different pronunciations. Are certain English people wrong for pronouncing 'car' as 'cáá'? For pronouncing 'three' as 'free'? Maybe yanks should stop saying 'aluminum'?

There is no one correct way of speaking.

Teyla Emmagan

Lucena wrote: »

Effort: why should I as long as I'm understood?
Supposed to be: according to who? L'académie Anglaise doesn't exist. Not that French-speakers listen much to the French version.

Different regions, countries etc have different pronunciations. Are certain English people wrong for pronouncing 'car' as 'cáá'? For pronouncing 'three' as 'free'? Maybe yanks should stop saying 'aluminum'?

There is no one correct way of speaking.

It's a question of good diction I suppose with me, I was always taught that was important. If we all pronounced words however we felt like it we wouldn't even be speaking the same language anymore. And as I already said dropping your 'ths' is not a matter of accent or regional pronunciatio, it is just a bad habit.

OldNotWIse

That half an inch that the toilet seat sometimes moves randomly when you are on it. It wouldn't be so bad if it was immediate but no. It waits. You sit on the toilet. Everything is fine, then suddenly it shifts slightly to one side. I do think I'm falling off a cliff or something. It reminds me of that horrible jolt you get sometimes just before falling asleep. Damn toilet seat

Lucena

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

It's a question of good diction I suppose with me, I was always taught that was important. If we all pronounced words however we felt like it we wouldn't even be speaking the same language anymore. And as I already said dropping your 'ths' is not a matter of accent or regional pronunciatio, it is just a bad habit.

You're not really answering my questions.

You appear to be worried about English branching off into different languages because of bad pronunciation. This is unlikely to happen, in the short term at least, as there is social 'pressure' (for want of a better word) which makes people pronounce in a way as to be understood. A Midlander with a strong accent comes into contact with non-Midlanders daily, so his/her accent is unlikely to diverge to the point of becoming a different language. People pronouncing words how they like won't happen, people would find them strange, and the person 'mispronouncing' wouldn't be able to live effectively in society.

"It is just a bad habit". No, just no.

Examples of bad habits: smoking (health problems), drinking excessively (health and social problems), picking your nose and wiping it on a table (hygiene and social discomfort), not indicating correctly on a roundabout (potential accidents).

Not pronouncing my 'th': Not giving a toss about some stigma that means I have to hide my identity and pretend to be someone else.

Ultimately this debate comes down to which side of the prescriptive/descriptive side of the fence we find ourselves on.

Czarcasm

OldNotWIse wrote: »

That half an inch that the toilet seat sometimes moves randomly when you are on it. It wouldn't be so bad if it was immediate but no. It waits. You sit on the toilet. Everything is fine, then suddenly it shifts slightly to one side. I do think I'm falling off a cliff or something. It reminds me of that horrible jolt you get sometimes just before falling asleep. Damn toilet seat

That just sounds like just a badly fitted toilet seat ONW tbh. Have a look under the back of the bowl and see if they are butterfly nuts or plastic locknuts underneath the lid- slight adjustment is all that necessary to fix the slippery seat problem!

Digs

People who use the word epic all the time.

OldNotWIse

Czarcasm wrote: »

That just sounds like just a badly fitted toilet seat ONW tbh. Have a look under the back of the bowl and see if they are butterfly nuts or plastic locknuts underneath the lid- slight adjustment is all that necessary to fix the slippery seat problem!

But it sometimes happens to me on other toilets :eek: Startin to worry about the size of my ass now

Rasheed

When reading this thread, every few pages, someone would mention how annoying it is to be able to hear what the person near you on public transport, is listening too because of shiite ear phones, loud volume.

I imagined it was quite annoying but having never suffered it myself, I couldn't sympathise.

Until this week. I spend five days in hospital. Where a young man listened to his MP3 player all the time. On shiit ear phones. With shiit music. And I could hear it from THREE beds away. Then, in case he thought he couldn't bother me much more, he'd randomly burst into song with this thick southern accent. Picture Brendan O'Connor suddenly breaking into a rendition of Beyonce's 'To the Left'.

I didn't go in with high blood pressure, but I definitely came out with it.

old hippy

Rasheed wrote: »

I imagined it was quite annoying but having never suffered it myself, I couldn't sympathise.

Until this week. I didn't go in with high blood pressure, but I definitely came out with it.

Perhaps now you'll be a bit more mindful of those that have suffered from other upsets that you haven't (yet) experienced

But yes, that would drive me nuts. My hospital memories include people screaming, vomiting and dying. Oh and a priest trying to get me to take communion, despite me telling him "no".

ronan45

When you have a perfectly good toilet roll holder/dispenser that works PERFECT yet everyone else in the house needs to TAKE the god dam roll off the toilet roll holder and leave it on the cistern.,... Leaving the toilet roll holder empty,,,

Or uses up the toilet paper on the holder... takes out new one... could they throw the toilet roll core in the bin??? No leave that swinging empty on the dispenser and the new loo roll again on the cistern:mad:

the purple tin

Cyclists on the footpath. Kids are bad enough but it drives me mad when inconsiderate tits in their 40's and 50's whizz past you with **** all room to spare.

Rasheed

old hippy wrote: »

Perhaps now you'll be a bit more mindful of those that have suffered from other upsets that you haven't (yet) experienced

Oh I do try to emphasise with people and their complaints, even if I dont have experience of it. Takes practice i suppose but all part of the job!

But now I can truly sympathise with those who have to endure tinny music, courtesy of another traveller's Mp3 player on public transport!

1ZRed

Cinema doors that you can't open by pushing them in with your back when you have your arms and hands absolutely full of crap food and drinks.

kunst nugget

Women talking about heels and make-up. Does me head in.

stoneill

Buying new light fittings and they are screw in types. Now there is a mix of bayonet and screw bulbs in the spares drawer.