I'm not irked by "pops of color " or "dated" decor, etc., but really enjoyed the humor on this thread. I can most identify with nosoccermom in cringing at hypercorrections, though I cringe more at those involving "myself" than "I." Example: "If you have any questions, please ask John or myself."

I also find uptalk annoying in real life, but it doesn't bother me to see it in writing on a casual forum such as this one. For example, if someone writes, "I think my dining room table is too long?" I interpret it as shorthand for, "I think my dining room table might be too long. What do you think?"

If I had to name just one thing that drives me nuts (again in real life, not in writing), it would be vocal fry. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me. Apparently it's quite common in the younger generation of women, so maybe I'm just "dated" ;)

I know I have words that I don't like and have posted often in this thread , but I am not going to ask people not to use them (although I may not answer their question), and I am going to describe things how I like, I don't really care if it's not correct somehow.

I hope to never hear dust again ;-)

RE: Dated

Paraphrasing since its been yrs, but I can remember an episode of Dynasty when Krystle was showing off a sizable $$$ piece of antique jewelry Blake had just given her

RivalAlexis dismissively called it "hand-me-downs"

I think reasonable well thought out posts that describe the situation/dilemma clearly, ideally with a photo or two, tend to get good responses. If the OP doesn't return in a day or two, or ever, then I think a phooey is in order.

"What gray shall I paint my living room?!!!" without any additional info just cannot be answered without a back and forth. It seems many of these posts are drive-bys. I don't know what the poster expects or if they are just scattering leaflets across the internet.

I've consistently gotten good, sound, valuable help in answer to my questions. Maybe one or two haven't gotten many responses, but I can't remember what they were, so clearly not life and death issues.

I've learned a ridiculous amount of stuff just hanging out and reading threads. I have never done a new layout so I have only a passing interest in those threads, however, I'm impressed in the amount of effort some posters contribute to help strangers on the internet.

What should we call the phenomenon when an item of a bright, contrasting color/material punctuates the tedium of sameness?

I'm also annoyed by uptalking. But I saw a video of myself and I was dismayed to hear myself uptalk on just about every sentence. Ugh.

What's it called when someone says, "the new store sells blue jeans, they sell boots, they sell cowboy hats, and they sell saddles," INSTEAD OF saying "the new store sells blue jeans, boots, cowboy hats, and saddles?"

I hear newscasters doing this. And my DH. Do they just have to fill up dead air with their voice?

It's sad the words "pop of color " has pretty much been banned as an unfashionable thing to say here. For example if someone said they wanted a yellow pop of color I immediately thought of this.

Pop Pop Pop Pop

But now after reading this thread I think of this.

Isn't it all getting just a bit...

Pardon me, could you pass the Grey PouPon?

There was a real movement against beige there for a while and just like Pop Art there was a real attempt of taking away some of the seriousness. However, in decorating, everyday objects or textiles were brought to life with lively color and mostly did not revolve around iconic images like pop art. But, wasn't it great when those color pops came along?

One of my pet peeves is "dinning room". I cringe every time I read it.

Edited to note, Just, we posted at the same time. I want to clarify that I am stating my internal response, I'm not trying to suggest I want others to change to meet some expectation I have or to satisfy me.

I've been enjoying this thread and am not taking any of it all that seriously. Enjoyed your photo additions, too. Cute!

Flow crashes it for me.

"Farmhouse". NONE of the "farmhouse" tables, sinks, "decor", or anything else labeled farmhouse looks in any way remotely like anything that ever graced a real farm house. A real farm house was where the farmer and his family lived. The farm was where they all worked. They did not Entertain in the kitchen. They entertained in the living room. Room. With walls. 4 of them. And the kitchen also had 4 walls. A dinner for company was eaten in the dining room. Sorry, Rose, but that's what it was called.

Rose isn't objecting to dining room, she is objecting to dinning room

eastautumn, vocal fry (or voice fry) is pretty awful, but it appears to be more of an East Coast phenomenon (despite being linked to the Kardashians) - or at least that's what I heard of CBS news a few months ago. Before that, I did not know it had a name. CBS said that people use it to make themselves sound smarter and that it is more common among college students.

Speaking of dining rooms: why do some people say "dining room table" instead of "dining table"? I work for a furniture company, and we sell dining tables - a dining room table can be a sideboard, and we manufacture those as well.

I was recommended to this site for some advice on a bathroom reno we are planning. I just signed up, and I realize now that the only words I could post are color...help and bathroom lest I offend someone:(

This entire thread made me smile. I am from Ireland so many of my phrases are from there. I try very hard to sound American, at least in my writing. I STILL have to think about closet/wardrobe, cupboard/press.

And that uptalk? My twenty something grown kids use it ALL THE TIME. Hate hate hate it.

I have no idea what "vocal fry" means. Enlighten me, please.

Tussiemussie, ignore any rudeness, most people here are actually quite nice.

tussiemussie don't take it too seriously:) I don't even write in proper English..most of the time I don't know what I write at all, or for what purpose:) actually irl -I think "bathroom" and "help" are the words to get by..to me, at least lol

join the club, Louise is right..and I've been to many sites..it's actually quite nice here

(Louise I googled "vocal fry" and even watched some youtube videos..the only thing I got from it I'm in no danger since I have a poor diction anyway.

but I haven't googled uptalk yet)

Awww tussimusie please don't be put off, this is all in good fun and no harm is intended.

Stay and have a chat and get some great advice from some lovely people.

ETA: you have some lovely photos in your ideabook...similar to what I'm attempting in my guest bathroom...

(also confused by "vocal fry"...it sounds painful)

I say dining room table because it's the table in the dining room as opposed to the kitchen table, the entry table, the craft room table and the water table.

OP, Lezlie Cooper, can we ALL ...? Why, no, no, we cannot. This is what makes this forum fun. If we ALL agreed on anything it would be a rather boring and one sided exchange. I'll just pop back out now.

This thread is funny. This thread is proof that nearly everyone thinks they are smarter than the next person.

I agree that much of this thread is funny, but beyond that I think it shows how we all have different quirks and perspectives. Like most who read and posted on this thread, I interpreted the requests and comments about pet peeves as lighthearted and tongue in cheek, not as serious demands that we all conform to certain standards and avoid words, spellings, grammar, phrases, etc. that some find annoying. Maybe that's because I've been around long enough to "get to know" some of the personalities here, or maybe it's because I grew up in a house where we love joking around and not taking ourselves too seriously. Life would be boring if we didn't have funny quirks and agreed about everything all the time.

As for vocal fry, I didn't know what it was called until about a year ago when my youngest brother was doing an impersonation of someone using vocal fry and mentioned that it actually has a name. I think of it as the habit of lowering the voice and drawing out the last few words of a sentence in a low, croaking voice that, to me, makes it sound like the speaker i-s r-e-a-l-l-y b-o-o-o-r-e-d (my attempt at written fry). According to Wikipedia (which has a more accurate and comprehensive definition than mine), females are 4 times more likely to use it than males, and the frequency and social acceptance seem to be increasing. I was a bit shocked when I recently heard a reporter on NPR ending every sentence with vocal fry and found it so distracting I couldn't focus on the content of the report. A quick Google search suggests that Kim Kardashian is the undisputed champion of vocal fry. You'll notice that most of the clips are taken from the end of sentences, which is when those who love using it seem to insert it the most.

FYI, Indigo's peeve was "DINNING" room, not "dining." I've seen "dinning" a lot on this forum - a misspelling of course, but I cant help but think of a room full of kids yelling and making a lot of noise and throwing food around.

Dear eastatumn,

thank you for saying so well what has been on my mind..I'd never be able to put together such a great and heartwarming post(can a post be heartwarming?..)

and thank you for educating me on this vocal fry thing!

(uptalk, I did google, but that turned out to be so complicated, with mentioning tons of other languages and dialects I never heard, I decided I'm a lost case. was interesting though)

agree, april.

And, afaik, uptalk is a way of speaking as if declarative statement is a question. For example...

The sun is out today, vs

The sun is out today?

Much like, to me, all caps is "shouting" when I read it.

As an aside, I'm now educated on vocal fry....or I'm, like, nooow educated on vocal frrryyyyy...... :)

Thanks Eastatumn, I had no idea what voice fry was. It's kind of icky.

In spoken English, you can tell that something is a question by the inflection.

Statement: "It's going to rain today."

Question: "It's going to rain today?" (maybe you saw your spouse putting on a raincoat in the morning when you thought is was going to be sunny)

When saying those words as a question, the speaker raises the pitch of their voice at the end of the sentence. That way a listener can tell that it is a question, even though it doesn't have the typical structure of a question, which would be "Is it going to rain today?"

Anyway, that change of pitch that turns a statement into a question, or at least indicates uncertainty, is the hallmark of uptalking. If you are really asking a question, it's totally appropriate. The annoyance comes when the speaker uses that rising tone at the end of all their sentences, and that's what people generally mean when they complain about uptalking. If you turn every sentence into a question--or at least a statement for which you want confirmation--you just sound uncertain and wishy-washy.

"I cringe more at those involving "myself" than "I." Example: "If you have any questions, please ask John or myself.""

One of mine - it's not I, it's me.

"Ask John or me." (You wouldn't say, "Ask I." Take out the first person. You would have said, "Ask me.")

Another one you see here often is advice vs advise. I admit, it is a difficult one. You ask for advice, you give advice, but you advise someone.

Voice inflection is quite amazing. How you say something can have totally different meaning/interpretation by simply "highlighting" one word. This is one of my favorite examples. Say this sentence out loud 7 times. The first time, say the first word with an inflection. The second time, the second word, the third time the third word, an so on. Seven different meanings...

"I never said she stole my money."

Chose/choose. And english is my native tongue. I had a major stroke ten years ago. I lost my words for quite some time. I worked very hard to get at least some of them back. I still can't quite get chose/choose some of the time.

In my old age, I'm forgetting how to spell. GRRR

Ummm. No.

Oh my, I just realized I may have been voice frying over the years without knowing it. I say grrr and write grrr often. When I say it out loud it's low and gravelly. Grrr, is that a voice fry if I don't do the creepy baby talk with it?

I don't think that counts, justterrilynn.....You're okay :)

Much better explained than me, cawaps! I completely had a brain-fart, there....

When I hear someone uptalking, I feel like it is a covert way of asking, "do you understand?" after every statement they make. Yes, pretty irritating.

Even though I hate uptalk in real life, in writing it makes a little more sense especially in this case where there is a lot of brainstorming happening. Or when I want to suggest something that the OP didn't really ask for advice on. It makes sense to *ask* "maybe the sofa can go by the window?" Declaring "the sofa should go by the window" shuts down the conversation, or can make the reply sound like a direct contradiction.

To me, it seems (aka "I think") courteous to invite people into a two-way dialogue rather than to declare that such and such shall be so.

I see Lindsey's point: it absolutely depends on the person you're writing to.

Yes, I completely agree Lindsey. Sometimes you get almost no feedback and have to wade through with ?

Don't sit near a twenty something, unless you like the word "like" and enjoy hearing it used . Over and over and over and over until your ears................bleed.

"I know, I'm like so over him because he is just like so insanely rude. Like last night, he says ______ and I'm like, you know......."

Must say, that is a tie in annoyance ( for me) with the inability to manage left turns at major intersections.

(living near boston, i enjoy folks making 'boston lefts' and you probably would too, jan: when making a left turn across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic from your left with no traffic light.. you merely edge out til you block the first lane... edge out til you block the second lane, eventually there is a hole in the oncoming from the right, and you make the left turn. there will be horns but they are pro forma.

i dont have the courage to make boston lefts, i arrange my driving to turn left only where there are signals. and then i do as jan suggests or i would be horn-blown off the planet, no pro forma about it.)

Since we're off the track and in the weeds here, just wanted to add "mindful" to the list of overused and annoying expressions that are heard constantly in our area. Its like these new age hippies are reminding us authentic old hippies what to think about. Please! I've forgotten more stuff than they're ever learned.

Do you happen to be in Mendocino county?!

North county coastal San Diego. Surfing culture mixed with yoga along with baby boomer hippies.

Ah yes!

Louise McCarthy

I have no idea what "vocal fry" means. Enlighten me, please.

************************************************

See - Christina from Flip or Flop, Tina on Vintage Flip and 99% of the women on House Hunters Reno

Dear Jan, comment on "taking your position" re: left turns. This is how I was taught to drive 50 years ago. Imagine my shock when moving to Arizona and being informed by a PO that crossing the "white line" is against the law unless you can complete the turn after doing so. (He was kind and did not ticket me.)

Whilst the use of certain words may irritate us, we usually do understand what the person using them actually means. I think it is just nice that people are taking pride in their homes and asking for (mostly) positive assistance in improving them. Also for me it is the over use of the word 'awesome' that irritates the most.

Re: vocal fry "See - Christina from Flip or Flop, Tina on Vintage Flip and 99% of the women on House Hunters Reno"

You nailed that one, Chijim. Christina may be one of the worse offenders, but then I never watch Vintage Flip. I have to mute the TV when Christina speaks or else I cannot watch that show. I simply change channels when HHR is on and someone has an annoying voice.

As for "Pop of color" - I am reminded of a project given to my 2-D design class, in which we had to create a geometric abstract watercolor painting and use only one fully saturated color, but it was not called "pop of color" at the time, although it served that function. The lesson was that only one saturated color should be used at a time, but this rule was lost on Piet Mondrian. My painting started out with both red and blue at pretty much full intensity, but I still felt that the blue receded. The teacher made me dull the blue for that project, but I'm not sure it helped the final result.

I've noticed on the British versions of HGTV shows which I watch on YouTube, they use the term "splash of color". Like it better.

But they, too, overuse phrases. Every single house must be "flooded with light". I know that light is important, especially in England, but it is a often used term that has moved on to cliche status.

Ahh, good to know regarding "vocal fry", I can't watch Christina either. What I am noticing are the young women journalists/reporters talking just like my daughters, so much up talking. I am getting old lol.

I agree, Louise - all that up talking makes me much prefer to READ my news online.

At one time, my daughter (now 45!) was using "like" so much that I threatened to make her go to a speech therapist if it didn't stop. My threat worked...