The world's biggest list of really annoying, offensive, niggling, irritating, infuriating, thoughtless, fat-headed, arrogant, anti-social behaviour

Here's your chance to perform a service to mankind. We're going to help create a nicer, more civilised society. Sort of.

Between us we are going to draw up a comprehensive list of anti-social behaviour. Not big things - murder, rape, impolite use of chemical weapons - but the small and medium sized things that make life just that bit more irritating.

I agree that this won't, of itself, make the world a better place, but a list will be a start. It will be help to get it all off our chest, for instance.

David Aaronovitch got us off to a good start this morning with this list:

1. Shoes on seats
2. Queue jumping
3. Red light jumping
4. Street spitting
5. White-van woman-baiting (“nice pair, luv!”)
6. Blatant littering
7. Young men and women not surrendering their seats for the old, infirm or pregnant
8. Incredibly loudly played music on car stereos
9. T-shirts with swear words on them
10. People who don’t acknowledge you when you have held the door open for them, made way for their car or in some other way shown them courtesy

To which I'd like to add - talking loudly on a mobile phone so that the whole carriage is forced to listen, making long speeches when called to ask a short question at a meeting, making "jocular" remarks to people about their weight (in particular saying "you're looking prosperous"), putting people on round robin email lists without their permission.

Your turn now. Remember we need a comprehensive list. But you only need to add one or two.

Place your contribution on comments or email me on commentcentral@thetimes.co.uk.

UPDATE: After a deluge of suggestions - we have a new, improved list here.

Comments

[Garbo]

People who push on to the tube or train before letting anyone off

[Paul]

Okay, this list is a bit trans-Atlantic (some items apply more to the UK, others to th States, still others both) but here goes:

- ANY kind of littering
- Dropping consonants
- Emitting body odour
- Unthinking acceptance of PC dictates
- Believing in the BBC
- Watching, talking about, reading about, or even THINKING about Big Brother
- Speaking about children in the third person as if they weren’t there, when they are.
- Naming children things that are words but not names (like “Cadence” or “Dusk”) or names that are incorrectly spelled (“Robyn”, “Keryl” etc.) or things that are neither words nor names (“Denelle”, “Lashawna”, etc.).
- Wedding lists, “baby showers”, etc.
- Trying to show off a knowlege of wines and talking about them tiresomely.
- Talking about money and property
- Anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism
- Not putting your phone on silent in a restaurant
- Women: Boots with shorts, short dresses or skirts, or miniskirts (any visbile bare leg above the top of the boot).
- Men: Business suits without ties, business suits with brown shoes, wearing a coat from a suit as a blazer or sport coat.
- Women: getting drunk.
- Men: never getting drunk.

[Matthew]

Journalists who write lists in the silly season.

[Mark]

Paul needs to open his eyes a bit - "anti-social behaviour" is not the same thing as "anything Paul has a bee in his tiny bonnet about".

One for the list - those who march through crowded streets, eyes fixed on their mobile phone, without a thought for who they might barge into.

[Maggie]

People & programs which constantly show /talk about bodily functions !

Television presenters who take over a show.

People who don't know the difference between 'bought ' & 'brought'.

Parents that will not say NO & MEAN IT , to their kids.

Dog owners, who let thier dogs bark.

Selfish car parking.

The BBC when they talk down to us in a patronising way .

Loud inconsiderate people.

[Maddie Ladele]

A list of anti-social behaviour - what fun!
1. People playing music on their phones.
2. People playing music so loud on their iPod (etc) you can hear it over yours.
3. Not asking if a seat is free on the train, just leaping into it.
4. Sniff.
5. People barging you out the way to get onto a train, or when you're on, squeezing past you as you attempt to take coat off, put bag away and sit down.
6. Sniff.
7. Definetly spitting - especially footballers.
8. Cyclists wheeling through red lights as they are invincible, then moaning when they get knocked off.
9. Sniff.
10.People on lap tops on trains assuming the whole of the table is for them, not 4 people.
11. Not saying please and thank you, ever. They seem to have disappeared completely.
12. Big companies that give you lots of options to press when you call them, but no one actually talking to you.
13. Sniff.
14. Dropping litter.
15. General apathetic attitude of 'someone else's problem' to well, anything really!

As you can tell, I am a commuter, and the behaviour I see, usually by people who travel in First Class as they try to get past us Plebs, is unbelievable! I have had a black eye from someone clonking me with a bag, and he didn't even apologise the git.

[M.C.]

Having a bizarre vocal volume at any time, mobile phone or no. This applies to people who holler, of course, but also to people (especially those in service jobs) who mumble inaudibly.

Also perfume that makes people choke from ten feet away, parking to take up two spaces, and people who go on and on about all the things they don't eat (and why).

[John]

A single driver in a huge SUV frequently conversing on a cell phone.

[jimbob]

Based on my experience of 14 years living in Hackney I would have to include the following. I'm sure this isn't exclusive to the borough.

1.Swearing incessantly.
2.Stopping your car in the middle of the road to chat to someone you know oblivious to all other road users.
3.Fly tipping.
4.Urinating in the street.
5.Playing music on your phone on the bus so we all can share the experience.
6.Asking me for some spare change to "buy a cup of tea/some food etc" or whatever euphamism you are using for a rock.

I'll stop now as I'm worried I'll upset Mark with my bee!

[Evil Granny]

people who won't shut up no matter how far you back away from them.

[ewt]

People who sneeze on trains but never use a handkerchief or tissue.

[dizzy]

Without a doubt it has to be people who spend a lifetime staring at the ATM screen. Look, you went there for money, you should know how much money you want. There is a queue behind you. Hurry up, you might ahve all the time in the world, I don't.

[tiredmum]

my addition to the list

people who are always whinging about something and can never think of anything positive to say

[jonathan]

driving with windows or roof down whilst playing incredibly loud music

[Mandarin Orange]

People sitting on trains, buses etc. with their legs at 90 degrees to each other, intruding into the space of the seat next to them.

Never, ever looking where they are going or thinking that there's got to be a bit of give and take about avoiding a collision - I move a bit to my right, you move a bit to yours and we'll be OK.

Walking five abreast on the pavement and not thinking it might be possible for one or more to walk behind for a short period to make way for someone to go past. Two words: single file.

People dawdling and getting in the way. Just because you don;t know where you're going doesn't mean I should have to wait behind you. Oh, and in response to the question 'What's your hurry?': I'M NOT IN A HURRY - THIS IS MY NORMAL WALKING SPEED.

Leaving their bags on seats on crowded trains, buses etc. as a deliberate attempt to deter people from sitting next to them: I shouldn't have to ask you to move your bag so I can sit on the spare seat!

Organising (and local authorities apparently tolerating) loud *commercial* waste collections in the early hours of the morning - why can't they happen during the day?!

Courier companies who only deliver to domestic addresses during normal office hours, and can't even pin it down to morning or afternoon, so that people with jobs have to take a whole day off to take deliveries.

OK, that last one isn't really 'ASB' - but it is darned annoying!

[Mandarin Orange]

Can't believe I missed this out in my other post:

People on crowded buses, trains etc. who do not remove their rucksacks or take their bags off their shoulders. Hold them (you may have to put your mobile phone away temporarily, but that's for your own good anyway, believe me ...)or put them on the floor - you will take up less space and not constantly clunk your fellow passengers every time the train goes over a bumpy bit of track or the bus goes round a bend.

[TIM]

Driving in the middle lane of the motorway when the inside lane is clear for a considerable distance ahead.

Thinking that the late Princess of wales was a Saint.

Standing unnaturally close in the supermarket checkout queue.

Parking a trolley in the narrowest part of a supermarket aisle and then looking affronted when you gently move their trolley out of the way.

Inconsiderate noise of any kind.

[Ranvir Singh]

Not having my views printed on The Times online often enough, after all my opinion is valued....by me at least!
This is probably only annoying to me!!

[mirthios]

People who tell me that I am 'lucky' to be able to enjoy those things for which I've worked my butt off for the past fifty years.

[Richard Bradford]

I suffer from the reverse - a crushing residual guilt that my activities may be offending those around me.

I listen, sometimes a little loud, to music on the tube, petrified that every glance is a silent condemnation , worried I have finally become one of the yobs my father used to rage about.

Then I take out my earphones, no-one is talking, the carriage smells of that bizzare mix of sweat and wee.

Is London a bad place because I'm listening to headphones, or am I listening to headphones because London's a bad place?

[Darren Jones]

Similar to the point made by Tim.

Drivers staying in the overtaking lane on the motorway doing 60mph, and refusing to move aside as they believe it is there right to drive there causing other drivers to break sometimes harsly and then under take.
JUST MOVE INTO THE SLOW LANE!!!

[marks]

1. people who stand and chat in the middle of the footpath
2. again.... people who don't look where they're going and will not budge an inch - one day I will take you down!
3. people in open plan offices that have to have every conversation at their desk in the loudest voice they can muster for hours on end.

... I could go on, but thats enough for today

[Max]

Oh where do I start!

Teenagers on trains, we're not impressed by you and your antics, talking louder doesn't make us believe it either.

Feet on seats on trains or buses, just wrong.

People who let their dogs crap on the pavement, one day I'll follow them home and crap on their doorstep.

Middle and outside lane hogs, driving under the speed limit. Please remember the highway code and keep to the left.

As already mentioned, the invulnerable cyclists, especially the early morning version that don't wear reflective clothing or have lamps on their bikes.

Mums with prams, usually in a group, I believe the correct term is a "natter", these are a pedestrian equivalent of middle lane hogs.

Stopping now, just realised I look like a bad tempered version of Victor Meldrew.

[Robin]

Getting a call from someone whilst they are eating.

Eat first, call later... not at the same time. It sounds disgusting.

[Dick]

Two or more people chatting on the pavement and blocking it for other pedestrians, forcing them either to face danger by walking into the road and traffic or to face hostility when you ask them politely to move so that you can pass or when they plainly ignore you you have to push your way through.

[Grumpy]

I cannot believe that no one has mentioned bad table manners! I find people who eat with their mouth open revolting. Also people who don't know the difference between brought and bought!!

[R. MacLeod]

1) Misogynistic idiots like Paul. Aaaaargh! Please can't men like that just die out already?! Please?

[worm]

People who sit in the outside seat of two on a bus or train to deter people from sitting next to them - I will always, always make sure I get that seat next to you just to annoy you.

People playing music through their tinny phone speakers on the bus or train

People with no apparent spatial awareness who bump into you and then look confused as to what impeded their progress - ie 90% of people in London

Cyclists who ride on the pavement or through red lights - I am always so tempted to stick out a foot - it would be worth a broken ankle to teach them a lesson

Children who are rude and abusive to grown ups

People who sit with their legs miles apart/hang their arms over armrests on the tube, especially when they do it in rush hour.

Parents who won't control their kids

People who claim they can't eat the dinner you made for them because they are 'allergic' to wheat/dairy/eggs/fish/cabbage etc - if you were allergic you would know, believe me - just because you felt a bit funny once after eating a yogurt doesn't make you allergic you irritating attention grabbing fools. At least you have the option of choosing what to eat, eh?

In case you haven't guessed, I live in London. Not that that is the reason I'm a miserable intolerant old mare - just one of the reasons.

[Jeremy Poynton]

David Aaronovitch

[Simon Lewis]

People who, when telephoning, do not identify themselves at the onset of the conversation. Many seem to assume that call display has already identified them. Even if I paid any attention to call display, how would I know who is calling? It seems right and proper to say, "Hello. This is Simon calling," and then get on with it. My technique for responding to these people when they call me is to ask them to identify themselves. Thank you. I have now vented suitably. Hmmph!

[JJJ]

Office coworkers who do not clean up after themselves, for example after spilling coffee on a counter/table/desk/printer/front entryway. Same who come to work smelling and looking like slobs. Same who heave big sighs every five minutes, beginning when they first enter the office. (I need a vacation!)

[john]

Drivers who, when turning left or right at a T-junction with room for 2 cars at the junction, park their cars in the middle so others cannot turn right or left while they dither.

Drivers, especially of 4x4s, who drive round puddles where the road is clearly not falling to pieces, or even worse, stop in front of the puddle and wonder what to do. Try driving through it slowly.

People in supermarkets who have to phone someone to find out what sort of bread to buy. Make a decision: it is all edible.

People in the cinema who insist on eating sweets from bags which rustle, especially when they have to be unwrapped too. Why do the cinemas sell the d***** things anyway?

People who always slag off the younger generation en bloc: they are not all lazy, ignorant, inconsiderate, swearing, drug-taking, knife-carrying, murderous, drunk, promiscuous, amoral yobs.

People who talk and chew gum at the same time. In fact just chew gum at all. And, even more so, spit it out onto pavements or stick it under table edges.

Shop-assistants/owners etc who say there's no call for something they don't stock: I've asked for it. Not exactly ASB but it's annoying.

[john]

Drivers who, when turning left or right at a T-junction with room for 2 cars at the junction, park their cars in the middle so others cannot turn right or left while they dither.

Drivers, especially of 4x4s, who drive round puddles where the road is clearly not falling to pieces, or even worse, stop in front of the puddle and wonder what to do. Try driving through it slowly.

People in supermarkets who have to phone someone to find out what sort of bread to buy. Make a decision: it is all edible.

People in the cinema who insist on eating sweets from bags which rustle, especially when they have to be unwrapped too. Why do the cinemas sell the d***** things anyway?

People who always slag off the younger generation en bloc: they are not all lazy, ignorant, inconsiderate, swearing, drug-taking, knife-carrying, murderous, drunk, promiscuous, amoral yobs.

People who talk and chew gum at the same time. In fact just chew gum at all. And, even more so, spit it out onto pavements or stick it under table edges.

Shop-assistants/owners etc who say there's no call for something they don't stock: I've asked for it. Not exactly ASB but it's annoying.

[kkk]

when boarding a plane those "oh-so-very important" businessmen who just have to be on the plane before the disabled travellers or the harrassed mums with kids. Its not like the plane will leave without them.

[Brooks]

I was about to list my anti-social nasties when I read "Worm" - the list was mine - shame we will never meet!

[Ismael Klata]

1) Using "readers' comments" to post a rant about something which is completely unconnected to the main article, and is of interest to no-one but you.

2) The Kyoto Accord lets China and India entirely off the hook. The entire US Senate, 99-0, voted to repudiate it during the Clinton Administration, including most of the senators braying the loudest about global warming today. The rest of the world hounds America about it because it's perfectly well aware that it's safe to do so - America will bear the brunt of fashionable opinion's condemnation, while other nations are spared from having to endure the pointless self-throttling that Kyoto demands.

[Jillita]

Teens and twenties who wear their trousers so low that you can see their vile underwear. This is especially prevalent here in S.E.London.

[deriiik]

not knowing the difference between anti-social behaviour and petty triviality.

[Simon Hill]

1. People who single out cyclists for disproportionate criticism (see above). Yes, a lot of road users are inconsiderate and law-breaking - but plenty of those are motorists or pedestrians, not cyclists.
2. Couples who walk along holding hands and occupying the whole width of the pavement, expecting oncoming walkers to step into the road to avoid bumping into them.
3. Another rude pedestrian one: people who start to overtake me on the pavement, then abruptly cut across my path as though I don't exist. The even have the nerve to look surprised when they trip over my feet.
4. People who insist on smoking in pubs and restaurants without bothering to ask whether anybody else minds. Oh, hang on - that's been banned now. That's cheered me up.

[HM]

1. Telling racist jokes.
2. Making slighting remarks under the guise of friendly banter.
3. Using the word "gay" to mean rubbish.
4. Speculating about a colleague's private life.

Oh, and...

5. Cycling on the pavement.

[MR SMITH]

People who fart in inclosed public places without a care in the world. (are they serious?)
People who snort in public........the thought of what is going down your throat disgusts me!
People picking their nose's while driving........what, they think they can't be seen?

STOP! ENOUGH!

[Andy Duffield]

I totally agree with #10. I end up yelling "Thank You" at the person I just held a door open for, when they don't show the slightest recognition of my helpfulness, and thus completely destroying the premis of being courteous.
Another of my pet peeves are parents that cannot control their children in public. I have 3 girls myself and regularly get compliments on their behaviour - for them doing nothing more than what should be expected - have our standards slipped so far?
And Cell phones - I absolutely hate Cell phones.

[Mubarka]

People blowing their noses in public, and esp. whilst eating. Uargghh!

[dizzy]

Almost forgot, people who stop. You know the sort, you're walking along, usually on the way to work, crowded street and the person in front of you, for absolutely no apparent reason just stops. It's a bit like being on motorway, hitting a traffic jam and then after twenty minute the traffic starts moving again with no visible sign of why it all stopped in the first place.

[dizzy]

The art of queuing is dead. Esepcially for the bus in sputh-east London. It's like a scrum down. Generally I just stand still and let the crowd take me.. save on show leather, but still amazingly rude. I would point out that most of the people getting on the train are not cultural British so that maybe why it's happening, but I would be accused of racism so I won't.

[Peter]

Who cares about feet on seats? In your illustration, it's the centre crease pressed into the photographer's jeans that's truly offensive.

[Simon Stephenson]

1. Insisting that discussions of discovery are conducted only within the bounds of prevailing orthodoxy.

2. Assuming that one is entitled to "the rate for the job" irrespective of the quality and value of what one has actually done.

3. Judging the behaviour of self, family and friends by a different set of standards from that which one applies to everyone else.

4. Derailing a discussion by claiming that an untenable position is justified by a force that is superior to reason.

[Yusuf]

-Asking for a pen and never returning it back.
-Double dipping chip in salsa.
-Standing too close to an ATM user.

[Clive Wilson]

When going through doors, the person in front of you sneaks through without touching it so it's half closed and pulls your arm out of your socket as you have to pull it open again whilst it is still moving.

On narrow or obstructed roads, drivers coming the other way who don't acknowledge that you have stopped so they can pass first.

Drivers not indicating (often but not always because they are on their mobile phone) - this applies whether I am also driving or a pedestrian.

[Michael]

Truly offensive breath from eating Thai/garlic/curry/spring onions......

Whispered, garbled, inaudible poor diction of modern film actors.

[MB]

Here are a few:

1. Sitting on a train or anywhere in public with a runny nose and no tissue, then not even looking for a tissue or napkin but just sitting there sniffling snot or wiping it on your hand - eugh...

2. Driving an SUV down narrow city streets and blocking everyone else's view and path - or just driving an SUV anywhere for that matter

3. Letting your children scream and misbehave in public places without disciplining them e.g. kicking adults' seats on trains, planes etc

4. Taking young children to a late-night showing of a film they're too young to see (seriously: I was once in a screening of an 18 film where a woman had somehow managed to bring her 2-3 year old daughter in with her - who naturally shouted and cried through the whole movie - and no, it wasn't a parent and baby screening but was at 9:30 at night)

5. And the worst one of all: queue-jumping

[matt wilson]

Er - an empty seat on a train is always free - I've paid for my ticket as well. So add people who harumph when you move their bag off a free seat on a busy train.

[Mark Lyndon]

Hey Cliff! What's the matter with this mob?
Well Una, it's like this:

The Dumb Ones
Darling they're the Dumb Ones
An the Dumb Ones, never are afraid.
They're in your face,
All over the place
Ten a penny, far too many
For the space.

Cycling on the pavements
Blocking up the streets
On the trains
Feet on seats
What a load of sad dead beats.

Tomorrow who cares about tomorrow...

[Chris]

Relating to driving, I could rant for hours but I shall sumarise my anger in 3 short points.

1) Not pulling to the left on the motorway and then getting annoyed when you are undertaken.

2) People who jump red lights, particularly at road works. (Mind you where I live you cannot go anywhere without encountering roadworks so I do have some sympathy)

3) The assumption which drives most bad bejaviour in cars which is that you are more important than anyone else and you NEED to get to wherever it is you are going before anyone else.

[Bryan Appleyard]

Being a builder

[ken]

People who write lists of ten something-most things.

[Olivia K]

Excellent idea:

- people who stand in doorways/corridors/other narrow paths of populus through-flow, holding conversations and waiting for you to actually ASK them before they sidle out of the way, pausing their conversation quite pointedly as if to make it oh-so-clear how much you have disturbed them. JUST MOVE.

- spitting in the street horrifies me

- anyone who does not say thank you, or is generally unkind, to waiting staff. A PERSON WHO IS NOT NICE TO THE WAITRESS IS NOT A NICE PERSON.

- public signs with poor grammar/punctuation...

- obscure business-world celebrity name-dropping. I don't know who they are, and I really, really, don't care.

- gratuitous public displays of affection. Holding hands is fine, face-sucking is not.

- pedestrians who get angry when I make an informed decision not to risk death on a very busy thoroughfare with no cycle lane and decide to cycle, at a reasonable pace and keeping way out of the way of anyone on foot, for approximately a hundred or so yards. If you want to kick me off my bike, go ahead, but trust me, the consequences for you will be even more severe. At least I will be wearing a helmet.

Remember the words of Frank Herbert:

"What do you despise? By this are you truly known."

[Paul]

Boy racers who come thundering up behind me as I'm driving along. There seats are usually adjusted so that they look as though there lying horizontal, music blairing. I take great joy in slowing enough to bring them to about 4 inches from my bumper then I tap the breaks and watch as there brooding persona explodes into a frenzy of Mr Bean panic trying to hit there breaks. Ah the joy of driving.

[Phil C]

My pet hate is driving related too. Why is it that drivers of 4x4's insist on using the RH lane on motorway intersections, then slow right down when entering the bend? You decided to buy something that handles like a bus, get out the way so normal cars can go past.

Another one....why do people need to text while walking along, walking at 1/4 of the pace of everyone else? You can't see where you are going if you are looking at the screen. Why not stand at the side for a minute to text or do it later? Other pedestrians (normally including me) want to get past.

[jason]

It's confirmed:

The English are the most petty, over sensitive and BORING bunch of people on the planet.

Imagine a list like this appearing anywhere else except say..............Germany.

There is more to life than worrying about this stuff.

[Daniel]

The entire human race bar me.

[Mark Lyndon]

Ah yes one for luck, people who make informed decisions to break the law.
Yes, there is more to life than worrying about this stuff.
There is death.
Civilised peoples build wailing walls like this one. Barbarians tear them down. Savages tear each others throats out

[Brian]

Cyclists who don't believe the Highway Code applies to them.
Bad grammar, misused words, misspelled words, apostrophes in the wrong place.
Fat people filling their shopping cart with junk food.
Baseball players chewing tobacco and spitting out filthy brown spittle.
Anyone chewing gum.
Diesel engined cars - for the carcinogenic carbon particulates they emit and the self-righteous owners who drive them.
Chefs and other uneducated persons who believe every third word begins with 'F'.
That'll do for now.....

[DAVID VINTER]

People who don't thank waiters.
People that swear in public, even worse if there are children about.
People who go on and on about cars and have no idea how they work.
Yawning and showing off all dental work.

[Adele]

The F-word used in most sentences as if it's perfectly acceptable in standard, I won't even say polite, conversation.

[Ethan Hunt]

Basically anything that happens in London is annoying...move somewhere civilised people!

[Tom Whitwell]

Excessive headline length.

[Julie]

Failure to shower.
Bare chested men who believe the Lynx adverts and who hang around in public places.
Fat girls on buses wearing thongs.
Not waiting for a person to descend the stairs before starting to walk up them (all your stairs are belong to us)...
Expecting everyone else to either vacate the room when a mobile phone rings or to otherwise find listening-in to other people's inane mutterings somehow entertaining.
Whispering - who invited you to breath into my ear?
People who arrive unannounced and keep on and on ringing the doorbell when it must be obvious to them that either I am out or don't intend to answer the door - piss off.
Check-out girls who chew gum whilst avoiding all eye-contact.
Spitting and spitting gum onto pavements.
The person who just has to keep on foot-tapping the back of my seat in the cinema.
People who threaten to beat up people who foot-tap their seats in the back of the cinema.

[GBI]

1) People who behave badly towards, or speak badly about, other people because of their nationality, race, age, sex, profession, class, economic status or intelligence (possession, or lack, of)
2) People who keep asking when you're going to have children, just because you are female and over 35.
3) Adults who constantly complain about teenagers
4) Old/pregnant people who don't thank you when you give up your seat for them on the bus - I'm not doing it for the gratitude, but their lack of it is at least as bad as not giving up their seat for them.
5) People trying to get onto the tube before you can get off
6) People who tell people that smoking is bad for them, as if they were the first to find out. I'm not a smoker, but it annoys me when people do it to others.
7) Littering
8) Women who try on clothes in a shop and get all their make-up rubbed off on them
9) Women who make sexist comments and think they can do this because they're women

As someone once said, 'hell is other people.'

[Peter]

german bashing

[Peter Thomas]

Letting littlies loose in a ceilidh, parents oblivious to trip-hazard thus created.

Inability to use adverbs as such, substutuing the ponderous and pompous 'on a ------ basis' instead. Typically 'on a daily' basis. Three words instead of one.

The speech form 's/he's like .. and'

[Alfonso Parelli]

People who contribute towards making message-board threads unfeasibly long. Who cares what I post anyway.

People who cannot say "excuse me, please" when they need you to move.

[Adrian]

One of the more annoying things is people who have nothing better to do in life than adding to this list and reading it....ooopppss.

[Souwester]

Snappy and obstructive medical receptionists.

Yorkshiremen who believe plain speaking justifies personal rudeness and bad manners.

NHS staff who try to turn hospitals into New Poor Law institutions for the undeserving.

Bank clerks who won't cash a cheque without a recital of the latest finanical products to an ever-lengthening queue of customers.

Radio 4 and Sky News presenters who say OK and run out of time when an interviewee is about to say something interesting.

Snotty secretaries.

Militant anti-smokers.

Child-snatching social workers.

Offhand assistants in Marks and Spencer who have been trained to converse with customers only in well-rehearsed terms prescribed by ring binders.

Clipboard Men in yellow helmets who wear flourescent jackets over their business suits to give an impression that they are working for a living.

So-called "Health Economists" who are happy to let people suffer and die for the sake of their financial equations.

Politicians who preface their lies with "the fact of the matter.."

[Juanjo]

My list of annoyingly anti-social stuff:

1) Lists of annoying stuff

2)Vulnerability

[Connie]

Nose picking on a bus with their uncleaned finger nearly touches you who is sitting next to them.

[Mindy]

Sorry...so many threads, whats the question again?!

1. Lack of politeness: when I've stopped to allow you to carry on driving a little thanks wouldn't hurt...or would it, I don't randomly stop my car for no reason.

2. Inconsideration: it's my right of way but the attitude is 'I'm going to carry on driving forcing you to stop anyway' (and not say sorry).

3. People barging into you when walking around town and then looking surprised; I didn't realise I was invisible.

4. Lack of manners: when eating (no, I don't want to see half eaten food) oh and with everything in daily life.

5. Spitting, ugh! footballers get a grip, it's just not attractive.

6. The females who think it's acceptable behaviour to show off underwear or lack of or to flash, it's embarrasing!! I wear short skirts and it can be done tastefully (sometimes with boots-Paul 01/08-do you also not approve of knee high stilletto FMB's?) and with dignity in tact.

7. This strange obsession with what the famous and not so famous are wearing/ doing/ what they weigh...how boring!

8. The weight issue in womens magazines: not being classed as a 'real' woman because I'm not a size 12/14 and no I don't want to read a new diet in every magazine I buy.

9. Magazines who discuss life changes and how to eat/ sleep/ party better assuming that everyone works in an office. I'm a nurse...work shifts...how am I meant to have my last meal before 6pm? oh and 8 hours sleep a night...yeah right.

10. My biggest pet hate: People (English or not) who put down the English or accept other people putting us down...yes we have our faults but so does every nation and we are a great!!

I've just thought of another: swearing; it's even becoming more common place on TV. It's not big or clever it just makes you look an idiot with a minimal vocabulary.

[Dog Lover]

When, to stop a barking dog, the owner calls out even more loudly!

[Carlyle Braden]

Mobile phones - period! Spitting especially by "sports "heros". rudeness and impatience. Treating others as servants: "These people". Phone calls where I try to get a person, get one with no sense of humour who stiffly hangs up on me because I've supposedly sworn! NIMBY. Children occupying seats when old people are standing. Children afraid of all adults. mumbling. Talk about diets. Whinging without trying to solve the problem. Air con and closed windows impossible to open - especially on longer distance trains. Baby buggies like smart cars. Toddlers not on some sort of lead and parent yelling. Tailgating by silver cars and abusive drivers - who cares what make your car is anyway? mixing up these, them and those. Men who spread their legs. Asking for my name or phone number on my phone. I have a right to privacy and also BT putting the hooter on when I take the thing off the hook. Having to dial numbers too fast. Low slung trousers on young lads - can't wait for them to fall down! Jargon and initials we are all supposed to know who it is - who knows what corporation has gobbled up the friendly little guy we so loved? People sitting at tables in crowded restaurants, cafes etc taking delight in keeping you waiting. As a diabetic a threat to bite someone pays off. Phew! I think that's it!

[David N]

Cyclists on the pavement who expect you to walk on the road.

[Cheerful]

Wow. What a load of miserable old codgers some of you are. 'Couples who walk along holding hands'... god forbid someone enjoy spending time with their partner.

"Fat people filling their shopping cart with junk food." How about people who make judgements about others based on their weight? Like you've never eaten a scrap of junk food, Brian.

My two cents? Lists like this, which just encourage people to whinge about trivialities, instead of real social issues.

Lighten up. People are generally alright if you stop expecting everyone to live as you do.

[J. Davis]

What annoys me is that in every 'readers comments' section, there's someone like Jason who responds only to moan that the subject is too trivial and dull to be worth replying to.

[Frank Upton]

Advertising
Excessive taxation
Routine lying by public authorities
Drunks
Packaging that can't be opened by hand
Pointless whingeing
Environmental hypocrites
Sugar in foodstuffs that shouldn't be sweet
Body piercing
People who insist that everything is getting worse when plainly it isn't

[Michael]

Men who fail to wash their hands having been to the toilet...even number two's. Maybe some women fail also.

[Bridget]

Beer-bellied men outside pubs who laugh openly while I struggle to get a buggy over a particularly awkward kerb (yes, this happened to me yesterday and I'm still smarting) instead of stepping forward and offering to help. And in a similar vein: young professionals who 'tsk tsk' impatiently behind me as I bump a buggy and several heavy bags of shopping slowly down a flight of steps at the railway station. Does one of them ever think to offer a helping hand? Rarely!

[laura]

Chavs. They are the main root cause of 90% of the ASB you have all mentioned. To illustrate my point:

1) Loud music blasting out of car windows...usually of the RnB/Hip- Hop/Rap kind
2) Excessive taxation...to fund housing/welfare benefits
3) General lack of politeness...self explanatory
4) Drunks...appearing 'cool' to the rest of the chav gang or (if an elder chav) simply constantly seeking ways to escape the misery of life as a chav
5) Body piercing...usually of the large hoop earrings/belly button piercing variety
6) Swearing...as this is the native language of the chav
7) Spitting/spitting gum onto pavements...well known chav ritual
8) People who threaten to beat up people who foot-tap their seats in the back of the cinema...as chavs feel this is the only way to resolve issues of conflict
9) Queue jumping...although this behaviour is not secluded merely to the chav group of society, it may be heavily associated due to the typical chav's superior self confidence
10) Naming children things that are words but not names (like “Cadence” or “Dusk”) or names that are incorrectly spelled (“Robyn”, “Keryl” etc.) or things that are neither words nor names (“Denelle”, “Lashawna”, etc.)
...popular chav choices, enough said
11) Dropping litter...common choices are plastic bottles, food wrappers, McDonald's containers, pages of 'The Star' or 'The Sun', beer bottles, etc.
12) Playing music on phones...whilst marching in chav gang down the high street/sitting on bus with chav friends/shouting loudly in train carriage so all can hear
13) Tracksuits/thongs visible/brands such as Playboy, Le Coq Sportif, Burberry, Von Dutch (t-shirts usually feature the slogan 'Von Bitch')...everyday chav attire

I rest my case.

[SIMON]

Tedious lists like these?

[Tom Foster]

Wow, I find very few of these things noteworthy.

No wonder I'm generally so happy!

There's something a little frustrating about people who don't acknowledge the rush during prime commuting hours though.

[Jenny]

to the man who wrote "women in skirts above the knee and women getting drunk" you are strange and need to chill out.

my pet peeves are:
people who breathe loudly (i know people have to breathe but why must i hear it)

people who blatantly don't need to be on the tube at rush hour - there isnt enough room for you so travel later!!!

people standing so close to you in queues or empty tubes that you can actually feel them against you. when i turn round and glare at you that is polite British for "step away from me you total freak"

anyone else at rush hour, i hate you all.

[harrie]

1. (This is when i used to be a waitress)People who whistle or click to get a waiters attention..my name badge does not say fido/rover/trixibell thanks very much.

2. Fat people telling me smoking is bad for me. I'm one cigarette break away from marching into my nearest fast food place and anouncing that being fat is a disgusting habit and that they should all jolly well cut it out.

3. Pervy old men saying 'a pretty thing like you shouldn't be smoking' i suppose smoking must be alright if you're ugly then.

4. Celebrities who've seemingly lost their children somewhere between the bafta's and OK magazine... I could have sworn kerry katona, kate moss and jade goody popped out a couple of sprogs at some point. maybe not.

5. People who make inappropriate comments on others appearence,
"you look tired" - i'm not.
"Late night last night?" - no.
"you should try this southbeach/atkins/makeyourselfsick diet I'm on, it's fantastic" - Thanks, thanks for noticing i've put on 2 pounds over christmas you self indulgent idiot.

[Chris Long]

Here's my list of activities that cause me to grind my teeth;

Tourists driving slowly on country roads oblivious to the fact that they are holding up the locals.

Selfish drivers hogging the middle or outside lane of a motorway.

People who have to play music too loudly on their iPods.

People who use their mobile phones in the 'Quiet Coach' of a train.

People who never buy a round.

People who drop litter.

People who are incapable of parking their cars between the white lines.

People who never acknowledge acts of courtesy.

People who unduly delay dozens of their fellow passengers on a train, whilst dithering about taking their coat off, putting bags away and sitting down. MAGGIE take note!

Mobile phones ringing in the cinema, theatre, etc.

People who chew with their mouths open.

Ramblers who think they have the right to roam anywhere.

Irritating mobile phone ring tones.

People who dispose of their chewing gum by sticking it under train or bus seats.

People who cause traffic jams on motorways by 'rubbernecking' at accidents.

Anti-social governments who ban social activites such as smoking and fox hunting.

[Fifi]

Grunting with every shot at Wimbledon - I've had to stop watching the tennis because I can't stand those orgasmic shrieks and grunts...

[Grace]

Shop assistants (just about eveywhere) saying 'there you go' instead of 'thank-you'.

[Tony Brown]

Great sources of irritation:
People who use the verb "of", as in, "I would of thought."
Teachers who don't correct such mistaken notions.
The amount of abbreviated forms, mainly computer terms, that we're confronted with. An example is URL, see above.

[lisw97]

Oh, this is not an ASB by any means, but I would still like to say that: NOTHING, NOTHING annoys me more than people who say 'laying down' instead of 'lying down'. AAAAARRRRGGGGGGGGH! WHY???? Watch any American TV show and you will hear this error.

[lisw97]

I have never understood why people attack each other on blogs or any forum. Boring, pointless, rude and predictable.

[Carlyle Braden]

Back again! British hard (HB, H, and some other disguised lettering) pencils with extra hard rubbers on the ends. The philosophy that the child should think first before making a mark holds back the brighter ones. I will go to the wall on this one ( of many issues). Even some souvenier pencils picked up at museums are guilty of this one. Pen built in rubbers always get lost anyway. As a teacher, I always supplied rubbers - over the years, in self defense, I found the hardest rubbers I could, they lasted years! Because the kids had to use their own, but at least it stopped some of the fighting over the group rubber! Why are the children not allowed to make mistakes? We all do. This puts proof reading into a tedious task to be avoided. Not all writers do an outline plan or stick to one. I learned strategoes to avoid being criticised for not taking "proper notes". To this day my notes always follow a diagonal pattern across a page. It comes down to a bullying issue again!

[giddy aunt]

OK, here's a list of my pet hates. I live and work in London.

1. Men who sit with their legs wide open on trains.
2. Women who put on make up on trains.
3. Women who wear those noisy clicking shoes with pointed heels.
4. People who whistle in enclosed places.
5. Sniffing and general loud snot noises.
6. People who serve at bars and don't say please or thank you.
7. Anyone who says, "do ya git me bro?" especially if they're white.
8. Couples snogging very loudly on trains.
9. Asking anyone to move their bag, leg etc so I can sit down on the train.
10. People who insist on reading their newspaper on an overcrowded train so it's constantly touching me.
11. Cyclists who don't stop for anything no matter what.
12. Nail biting - if you want to eat yourself then do it privately.
13. Adults who swear at children.
14. Children who swear at adults.
15. General misogyny in rap music that PC liberals ignore.
16. Scratched graffiti on windows - surely it must take ages to do it so why is it allowed to go on?

Anyway, need to have a lie down now!

[dopey]

Americans
David A
SUV drivers
Jeremy Clarkson
Rupert Murdoch
Prohibitionists of any sort
Warmongers of any sort
Religious fanatics of any sort
Alex Ferguson
Phones on trains
R n B
Criminals
Sociopaths

[Susie]

Noisy eaters
People speaking with a mouth full of food
Those say "knaaa whaaa aaah meaaan?"
Spitting and flobbing
Not saying please or thank you
Parents who believe every other person on the planet must adore the presence of their noisy/badly behaved children in any situation.
Offering counselling/psychotherapy as the answer to any/every problem
People who won't use the definate article when referring to health professionals or babies, ie: "Doctor will see you now" instead "The doctor will see you now" or "I must feed baby now" instead of "I must feed the baby now"
Using a mobile phone in any public or social situation.
Littering
Text speak of any sort
Hugging people you have only just met.
Telling long, boring anecdotes in any situation
Females constantly fiddling with their hair/make up
Constant checking of mobile phones for messages
Squealing loudly on hearing any news of any import at all
Middle lane hoggers on motorways
Inconsiderate driving/parking

I'd better stop now.

[Steve Pendlebury]

I'm disabled at the moment, worst luck. But the thing that really upsets me is the misuse of Disabled Parking Bays.

Look - I have a badge for a reason. I can't walk too far and I have a dead right hand. (Stroke)

But why do people who aren't disabled and don't have a blue badge constantly park in disabled bays leaving those of us who are disabled to walk goodness knows how far very slowly and because of this a Traffic Warden gives you a ticket because it took you too long to get a ticket...

[Sylvia]

My pet peeves are
1. When the comments section of the Times resembles the comments on Fark. One is a newspaper, the other is not news.
2. People who expect their courtesies agknowledged. I will hold the door open for people, but don't expect a thank you. It's nice, but to expect it makes it seem you only help people so you can seem better.
3. People bemoaning cyclists, when they drive like loons.

[Steve G]

Something specific to London. Large school/college parties (sorry - but they are usually foreign) that arrange to meet right next to the entrance of major Tube stations (eg Oxford Circus) in the middle of the rush hour, in a huddle 30 or 40 strong waiting for the stragglers to find them, thus totally blocking the entrances/exits.

[chris]

Contrary to popular opinion, I think the group which displays the worst manners is middle aged women.

Having worked in a shop and a bar, I think you are much more likely to get a 'please' and 'thank you' from a 21 year old man than a 50 year old woman.

[Liz]

Neighbours who have barbeques in their gardens when the wind is blowing smoke in your direction so you cant sit out.
Neighbours who start coughing and gardening at 5.30 am on summer days.
Passers by who dump their rubbish in your wheelie bin and then the binmen wont take your rubbish away because the bin has been contaminated.
People who empty their car ashtrays on the roadside outside your house when they are waiting.
People who eat their takeaways and throw the debris and litter on the street wherever they happen to finish their feed.
Noisy mopeds and motorcycles with the silencers removed.
Every driver passing over speed bumps that revs down and clatters their vehicle into an assault on the hearing of pedestrians - particularly empty skip lorries and vans.
People with mobile phones who sit in the cars with their windows open next to my open window and have personal conversations like ordering drugs and call girls.

[Sally]

Old people who don't say thank you when you hold a door open for them, but walk through it muttering something along the lines of "manners today not being what they were". Hypocrites.

People who swear loudly and excessively in public areas. I don't claim to be saintly in my own choice of words at times, but I do at least pay attention to who I am with and how many people - especially small children - can overhear me.

People who walk along the street as if they own it, and then glare at you as if it's your fault when they bump into you.

People who have 'caller waiting' on their phones and will stop you in mid sentence to see who else is calling, presumably because our conversation is so unimportant. If I'm talking to someone on the phone then I'm busy. The others can try again later. That's what the 'engaged' tone is for.

Parents who can't control their children.

Parent's who don't control their children because their standards are so low they can't see that their little darlings are misbehaving.

People who threaten to sue for the slightest little thing going wrong.

People who treat waitresses and other serving staff as though they are their own personal servants.

[Addeax]

* Old women telling me everything about their diseases.
* People who complain of everything. Especially of politicians (everybody knows they are bad), tax, fuel-price, ...

[Peter]

1. People who stop, dumbfounded, in entrances and exits to public places; thus forcing everyone else to swerve round them

2. Women who find paying at a checkout a big surprise and then spend 10 minutes looking for their purse, credit card, tokens etc

3. Tall people who believe it is their God-given right to be served first, given way to, queue jump, be right, be perfect etc, etc

4. Hypocrites who proclaim the superior power of crystals, holistic cures and homeopathy yet do not refuse anaesthetics for surgery.

[Peter]

Inappropriate use of words such as 'actually', 'like', 'wicked', 'incredible', 'astronomical'. Oh, and shop assistants who want to be assisted: 'Will you sign here, for me?'

[Rosy Fenwicke]

People who talk and eat with their mouth open.

Parents who let children eat with their mouth open, but who do not do this themselves are a mystery.

[monica]

Telemarketing.

Unnecessary horn-honking - I'd love it if horns sounded louder inside the car than outside.

[ade]

What really grinds my gear:
when people think its fun to talk about fat ppl n call them names, not allfat ppl can take complete conrol of their weight like the so called celebs(what ever that means) do after having a baby cos they dont have 9-5s so can spend their time on a diet (i'm a fit, young athletic man by the way). I hate the word 'Global warming'. Can we really do anything about it? I think its a chain reaction that can not be stopped. We should try to slow the process down but the government is using it as a means to generate more income and hippies/environmentalists are using it as a platform to gain some form of audience. We wont all be wearing leaves and living in caves or some type of mordern forest, cooking with sunlight n riding bikes anytime soon in the future. Man will evolve according to his environment like he has always done. i cnat stand smelly ppl (either not taken a shower or using a potio of different perfumes cos it all stinks). People who fart on trians and especially the tube (didnt ur parents teach you anyhting). PPl who dont correct their children n think its funny when they swear. Pregnant teenagers that drink (you think having a child is the end of ur clubbing days? You wait till that child is born with a disability then your social life will really be over). Smokers who think they have a right to smoke n stink up the place (i also have the right to breath n a right to a long n smoke free life), dont complain when you develop an illness due to smoking just take it like a man. People who think living life is all about drinking excessively( that is just a short lived life and dont ask me to donate any organs cos you had yours n wasted it). I kow about saving the planet n all that rubbish but if you choose to cycle in london, you are taking a big risk with your life. Think about number 1 before the planet.

[John Williams]

1) People who make lists.

[Derek Davis]

Assorted planet savers and eco-idiots who seem determined to selfishly punish the living for the sake of their own future grandchildren.

[Steve]

Oh dear, has it come to this, where we have become a nation of Victor Meldrews?
It is so easy to complain about things that annoy us, it seems to be a particulat trait of the British.
Instead of compiling a list of 'really annoying, offensive, niggling, irritating, infuriating, thoughtless, fat-headed, arrogant, anti-social behaviour' Lets try and produce one that lists everything that we have got to be thankful for. Ian Dury managed this in his delightful song, Reasons to be Cheerful.
Its easy being negative about things, however if we let small things bug us then they just create resentment.
I for one would prefer to see a list of all the things that inspire me.
Anyone want to set the ball rolling?

[J Marshall]

~ Chewing gum strewn pavements.

~ People who do not take the time to manouver their car when parking leaving you with the width of a wing mirror to open your door.

~ Mothers dropping off or picking up their little darlings from school in their 4x4s who seem to think because 1) they are mothers 2) have kids they can park where ever they like and that the highway code deos not apply to them.

~ Speed cameras and the proliferation of warning signs that flash up every or 30 feet about your speed. Why don't they just get the bloke with the red flag to walk in front of the car and be done with it!

~ Personal stereos that are anything but personal.

~ That pause when being called up by a automated call center so you always end up saying "Hello...hello?" before it works out that you are not an answering machine

~ Offshore call centres. Sorry I don't speak Mangled English.

~ Delivery companies who leave packages outside your door regardless of how valuable the contents are.

~ The automated voice announcement when waiting for a train. How do they decide whether today they are going to use a male or female voice?

~ People who seem to think that when their mobile phone rings it takes priority over anything else they are doing at the time.

~ The police and their complete lack of interest in anything short of violence or murder. Unless of course it is issuing automated speeding fines in their millions.

~ People who insist on bringing pungent food into the office and eating it at their desk.

~ Tail-gating. Usually by white-van man or people in their 4x4s who I am convinced are so high up they cannot see what is directly in front of them. Or who probably don't care.

~ Open plan offices. Noisy keyboards. Loud phone rings. Inconsistent air conditioning.

~ Generally, other people! ;)

[Edmund Burke]

Asking silly questions about everyday aspects of social behaviour, which readers with a ha'porth of intelligence and courtesy can be expected to take for granted.

1. People who don't aknowledge you when you give way to their car.
2. Drivers who don't know the correct way to indicate on roundabouts.
3. People who drive 6 inches from my bumber when I am driving at the speed limit.
4. Ads proclaiming "Only £2.98 -THATS GREAT VALUE!" ....I understand what they mean, but really, it makes no sense at all.

[joseph 27 kent]

how unaccepting of others people appear to have become. a lot of the things on the various lists actually make me smile, evidence to me of the human individual.

[SMITHY]

People who park illegally in 'disabled parking' bays because they are too lazy/arrogant/selfish/..(insert own words here...) to walk the 20 yards further. In particular the prevalence 4x4's in such bays, clearly because they 'need' the room... grrrr!!

[Juliette]

Anybody who drops chewing gum - really annoying

[Andrew]

How about pointless lists trotted out by people who clearly consider themselves to be somehow superior?

[Richard]

I will say that greedy people of any type are the worst... be it driving, walking, making noise, hasseling others, rich folks that do not share and poor folks that do not try.

Men treating children and women bad in public.

Smokers anywhere any time.

Bad drivers risking everyones life.

Drivers whining about cyclists.
Cyclist do not kill, autos do.

Cyclist that do stupid things to give the rest of us bikers a bad name.

People coughing without covering their mouth when they walk towards you.

White people that think they are black in clothing-fashion and when they talk. Pull your pants up boy you look like a fool!

Foreigners demanding rights they have not or do not intend to earn, hiding their women at home and then going into the street and treating all other women like a street walkers and then yelling racism when someone slams them for this behavior.
Why have you moved here in the first place?

Ignorant careless selfish walkers taking more space then they need.

Beggers. I work you can too.

Gas powered leaf blowers and the dumb ass foreigners that use them and the horribly greedy property manager companies that hire them to inflict this torture on the rest of us. Lose the blower find a rake and a broom for your cousin and whamo two jobs for the family.
Rich people that think the poor has to fight endless wars to keep them rich.
This rant represents California and Chile...

[Islwyn]

Parking opposite neighbour's drives making vehicular exit or access difficult.

Parking across dropped kurbs blocking pavement access for pushchairs and disability vehicles.

Property owners allowing their boundary hedging to grow over pavements forcing pedestrians to walk on the road.

[Sam]

I am a very placid person, normally, but a few things DO annoy me very much.

For instance:

Is it really necessary for the idiot, who lives down the road from me, to park his car (not, a brand new Audi/Merc/insert your favourite here, but an eight year old Corsa)on double yellow lines, right at the edge of the junction - just so he can see it from the comfort of his lounge? Or more idiots who blatantly ignore "No Entry" signs, causing me to swerve into the kerb?
And, Mr Drunken Kebab Muncher, who I have never met before, please don't come up to me and put your beer sodden face up to my toddler's. Yes, you may like small children, the trouble is, my small child was not too keen on you. Please back off.
And lastly, teenagers who simply have to insert the word "like" at least ten times into a sentence, consisting of six other words?

Stop it immediately, please.

Happy Sunday everybody!!!

[If you can't say anything nice...]

1. Having nothing to say to a total stranger unless it is to complain
about something he is perceived to have done wrong.

2. Interrupting a conversation between two total strangers on a train because you heard something that makes you think that, without your timely and self-righteous intervention, one of them is destined to become the next Adolf Hitler.

[Rick Hepner]

Just the fact that these lists NEED to be enumerated makes one want to give up all hope for humanity.

[S James]

Some interesting contradictions amongst the above. For instance one complains about people walking slowly while they text and he needs to get past -- just the type of impatient, I'm-more-important London behaviour that drives me crazy when I'm forced to go there.

Well my pet hate is *all* drivers. Just by getting into your car, no matter how safely and courteously you drive, you're impeding my right to wonder about in the road, cycle freely, and breathe clear air. Please could you stop? Thanks in advance.

[Jeremy Broadribb]

1: Drivers who don't signal their way off roundabouts.
2: People who stare at children with special needs and mutter about "why don't they control their kids" - this is as close to control as it gets when one has a meltdown and an audience is what keeps them going.
3: People who have all day to do their shopping choosing to do so in the lunch hours of those of us who work and apparently acting as unofficial quartermasters for the US armed forces.
4: People who chomp and crunch through a film at the cinema and leave all their rubbish on the floor/seats as they crash out as soon as the credits start (they might have to read something otherwise).
5: Cinema staff opening the door and letting the light in at intervals during the film (Capitol, Horsham please take note).
6: Turning the lights up in the cinema as soon as the credits start rolling to encourage you to vacate the seat you paid to sit in before the film has really ended.
7: So-called air-conditioning that concentrates and recirculates everyone's combined BO for us all to enjoy.
8: Bumping into people on your way down the train and not saying sorry.
9: The patronising attitude of teachers and their assumption that parents just live in limbo until required to attend meetings or deliver/collect their children.
10: Telephone hold systems that are not quite tuned into a radio station so us customers have to endure plastic music with heavy static.

[laura]

Or pointless comments such as the one above? Considering this is a 'Comment Central' for contributions towards 'The world's biggest list of really annoying, offensive, niggling, irritating, infuriating, thoughtless, fat-headed, arrogant, anti-social behaviour'. It seems to me that it is not the list creators who 'consider themselves superior'...

[Jonathan]

Elderly people who believe that they are superior to younger people.

I was once riding on a bus, and an 18 year old lad came on and sat down a few seats in front of me and put his feet up on the seats in front of him when the bus was practically empty.

The three elderly women sat on the seats next to him gave him the hackiest look ever and one went off on a massive debate about how others have to put their trousers on there.

I went and told her what I thought of her.

It went down nicely.

[Dali]

People who whinge but do nothing to solve the problem
John Prescott
People who copy others looks & clothes,& opinions with no thoughts of their own.
Boris & Ken
People who drive/park over 2 lanes if you can't handle the machinery don't use it....

[David]

people who complain about children riding bikes on the footpath.
Would they rather that they risk being killed or injured by the maniacs on the road.

People on disability buggies who use their hooters to get pedestians to make way.
They should remember that it was a FOOTPATH before buggies came along.

people who park their vehicles on the footpath, blocking the way for pushchairs, prams and invalidity buggies forcing them to go out onto the busy road.

people who park across dop kerbs.

[Jeremy Broadribb]

People who nick all the best ones to list before I get there and I'm stuck with everything that just pisses me off locally.

And people who whinge about lists. That's meant ironically.

[Andrew Ryan]

Jonathan, you really think that putting your feet on a seat where others have to sit is LESS anti-social than pointing this fact out? The bus being 'almost empty' is irrelevant. Shoes pick up dirt. This has nothing to do with old people thinking they are superior. Shame on you for harranging an elderly woman like that.

[Owen]

1. People who moan about environmental activists and try and claim that global warming is all rubbish, essentially sticking your head in the sand

2. People who play Ipods too loudly

3. Chavs who play music on their mobiles without any headphones, at full blast, who think they're cool

4. Tories

[Nessa]

In no particular order:

1. Poor grammar, e.g. "there" instead of "their", "TV's", etc. and bad spelling - were you not taught basic English at school?

2. The inability to pronounce "t"s or "h"s;

3. People who make plans for 12.20 then call at 12.10 to say they won't be there until 13.00. It's rude;

4. Terrorism disrupting my commuting/travel plans is mildly irritating - I have neither the time nor the patience for your silliness;

5. Related to 1.: "different to" - it's different from, similar to!;

6. Ten-year-olds wearing t-shirts proclaiming "I faked it" or "My boyfriend is out of town" - why do their parents allow them to wear these?;

7. Parents who let children misbehave from an early age and are then surprised to find their child has turned into a thug by age 12;

8. Children swearing at their mothers or hurling verbal abuse at anyone who dares reprimand them for their foul behaviour;

9. Bosses who think it's fine to take 3 hour lunches and then complain when you get back 5 minutes late;

10. Hypocrites, particularly those who freely criticise others and then get in a huff when their own behaviour is questioned;

11. Smokers who refuse to accept that their right to smoke is superceded by others' right not to assume the risks inherent in smoking;

12. Silly teenagers who think themselves very clever and big hanging around in gangs emulating American black culture and playing with knives;

13. Anti-Americanism. It's narrow minded and rather pointless;

14. The BBC's bias against Israel. I thought we paid license fees so we could receive some real, unbiased news;

15. Related to 14: broadsheets announcing (as front page headline news) that Peter Phillips' fiancée is delighted with her ring. How on earth is this as important as a possible repeat of the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak (which was covered on page 2 of the Telegraph)?;

16. Body odour - deodorant is not crippingly expensive;

17. The anti-abortion lobby calling themselves "pro-life", inferring that the pro-choice lobby just wants to commit murder;

18. Reality TV - let us watch something other than this drivel, please! A nice David Attenborough documentary perhaps, or failing that an exciting, funny, fresh sitcom. Please stop assuming that all of your viewers enjoying this asinine programming;

19. Smoking at the dinner table;

20. People checking who's trying to get through to them whilst they're on the phone to you;

21. People taking calls at the table;

22. People posting glib remarks about the pointlessness of this blog.

I feel much better for that. Thank you Messrs. Finklestein and Aaronovitch, you're cheaper than a therapist.

[Jeremy Broadribb]

Goodness, Nessa - I thought things p*ssed me off (my apologies to those who object to excessive bad language as it probably is just being too lazy to expand one's vocabulary).

Granted the numbering looks a bit pompous, but I find it make the contributions easier to read.

My apologies if this one's already been covered but it is rather rude of those joggers/runners who assume you have to get out of THEIR way because they're exercising and you're just going somewhere.

Invading someone's country without being asked, now that's downright impolite, as is blowing up buildings with the occupants still in them or funding your distant relatives Eastwards across the Atlantic to do it.

Yeah, there are better things to complain about than unpleasant experiences in the cinema.

[Michael James]

1. People using mobile phones like walkie-talkies in the street so you are forced to hear both sides of a 'private' phone conversation.
2. Car horns
3. Spam email
4. Graffiti
5. People who tend to end a sentence with question tags with everytime they say something (e.g., "that's nice, isn't it?" or "Gordon Brown should not distance himself from the US, should he?')
6. Having to listen to colleagues talk about last night's TV.

[Margret Geraghty]

Re the list of anti-social behaviours, I would like to add people who use their cars as a means of communication, particularly the horn. This was invented for a specific purpose, ie to warn other drivers or pedestrians, but its sound has now become a language in its own right. To give you some examples with translations:
Toot-toot-toot - 'I'm come to collect you and I don't care who else knows it.'
Toot-toot - 'I've just dropped you off and now I'm saying goodbye' (typically at 3 am when neighbours are trying to sleep.)
Tooooooooot - 'I've just seen someone I know.'
Toooooot-TOOOOOOT - 'I'm approaching a roundabout and I don't want to stop, so don't even think of cutting me off.'
David Aronovitch has beaten me to the car stereo nuisance, although he hasn't identified the chief perpetrators. I live in a block of flats on a very busy road and see dozens of such drivers every day. They are usually either boys wearing backward-facing baseball caps and sleeveless t-shirts, or peroxide-blonde girls with look-at-my-tits necklines and acrylic nails (OK, I made it up about the nails, but you know the type.)
When is this infuriating noise pollution going to become illegal?

[Addeax]

Advertisement on web pages, especially if it flickers the whole time, opens new windows or needs a lot of KB.

[Carmela]

re: anti-social behaviour, my list includes:
- people who trim their nails on the bus.
- people who stop dead at the end of the escalator.
- parents who allocate their very young children one seat each on the tube, ignoring all adults standing up.
Thank you.