Pet Peeves

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People who they think they know better than you...

Those people who think that they know everything are very annoying to people like me...who really DO know everything!

"There can be only one."

When I ask a rhetorical question and people actually answer - or worse they yell at me "why ask such a stupid question?" Because I don't want an answer, that's why. It's called a rhetorical question, and is a way of expressing thoughts or feelings.

Online news articles with a vague title that include a sensational term such as "Oh My God", "Shock", "Disgusting", "Devastated" etc. Such titles are an indication that the article is actually boring.

Marketing language:

Example: "It helps to reduce the appearance of wrinkles"


Helps to? Maybe it does .0001% of the work? Who or what does the rest?

Reduce? Not ... eliminate? How much reduction? .000001% reduction?

The appearance of wrinkles? How about the actual wrinkle? Is it an optical illusion?

For myself (and likely a few other aspies), the problem arises from not knowing the question is rhetorical.

"Based on a true story."

Anything that's "based on a true story" can deviate so much from the "true story"----that the "true story" becomes irrelevant to the production which is supposedly based on a "true story".

Only Prices

"It's only 9.99!"

You could trick people with the same item by saying "It's only 11.99!" or "It's only 13.99!"

I taught my kids to be wary of the word "only", or try substituting it with "as much as ..." to see if it's still a good deal.

"It's as much as 9.99 at Target" vs "It's only 9.99 at Target"


How much is the thing even worth?

I know....the 0.99 is ridiculous.

Why can't a $7.99 item just be $8.00?

In the UK, you know how much something costs right away----because the sales tax has already been added.

People speaking "Bible Quotes" that did not come from the Bible.

Ableism, especially when it involves telephones.

I had to renew my dog licence yesterday. I was able to do it online. Perfect. At the end I noticed they don't send out a new dog tag with the renewal. It says you have to phone them to order one. Why? What about people who don't have a phone, or their phone is broken, or they're mute, or like me they have a disability which makes phone calls nearly impossible?

I guess my dog doesn't get a tag even though I paid the same amount?

His tags were all lost a month ago, btw.

I can do it on TTY but that's a pain too. I don't know why they insist on people having to make phone calls and wait on hold with their stupid hold music (misophonia), follow the verbal prompts Press 1 Press 2 (executive function), make small talk with the rep (ableism), and give out their credit card number verbally (safety risk), when they could easily allow people to order them online.

Likewise, any customer service place that says you have to phone someone for help.

NTs do it too, which is more annoying because they should "know".

If I knew how they do it, then I could do it too.

The writing on shampoo bottles or shower products.

When I'm in the shower I can't freaking read! I'm soaking wet with water in my eyes, I'm not wearing my glasses, and I don't use electric light. Even if I did, the print is so ridiculously tiny I can't read it when standing in a bright window with glasses and a magnifying glass.

I don't just mean the fine print instructions. I mean, I can't read the labels. I can't tell which one is shampoo vs. conditioner, or body wash vs. face wash vs. exfoliant. I can't see the ingredients which is necessary because I'm allergic to many ingredients. (My daughter buys her own products, and I'm allergic to some but not others).

Most of the time these shower products have lettering in the same colour as the background. Pink on pink. White on white. White on a transparent sticker.

It's soooo annoying. Do they realise people don't wear glasses in the shower? (More ableism .... )

I meant NTs can take rhetorical questions seriously too and start answering, like "I don't know, do I??" And I'm like "I wasn't expecting you to know, it was just a matter of speech."