Pet peeve

A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that can instill great frustration in an individual.

Origin

The term originated from the word 'peeve'. Its first usage was in 1919. [ [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=pet+peeve&searchmode=none Online Etymology Dictionary ] ] [ [http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/pet%20peeve pet peeve - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary ] ] The term is a back-formation from the 14th-century word 'peevish,' meaning ornery or ill-tempered. [cite web
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url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=pet+peeve&searchmode=none
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accessdate=2007-09-28 ]

Description

Pet peeves involve complaints about specific behaviors, rather than general dissatisfaction.cite book |last=Kowalski |first=Robin M. |title=Complaining, Teasing, and Other Annoying Behaviors |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2003] Pet peeves often involve specific behaviors of someone close, such as a spouse or significant other. These behaviors may involve disrespect, manners, personal hygiene, relationships, and family issues. An example of a pet peeve involving disrespect is someone not using their turn signal while driving. While some drivers feel frustrated when another driver does not use their turn signal, other drivers do not care very much, or consider something else, such as cellphone usage while driving more annoying. Pet peeves associated with driving can result in road rage, where the person who feels peeved seeks some sort of retribution for the action. [cite web |url=http://www.drdriving.org/articles/testimony.htm |title=Congressional Testimony on Road Rage |author=James, Leon] Road rage itself is considered a pet peeve by many. Other driving-related pet peeves include drivers who speed up to keep others from changing lanes (Gap Snatchers), or distracted drivers talking on cell phones (Motor Mouths). [cite web |url=http://www.hagerty.com/NewsManager/templates/template3.aspx?articleid=979&zoneid=52 |title=So, What Aggravates You the Most on the Road? |publisher=Hagerty Insurance Agency] [cite news|url=http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/04/Autos/pet_peeves/ |title=Top 10 driving pet peeves - Survey: Between the pushy and the clueless, it's the cell phoners that annoy drivers the most |publisher=CNN |date=May 4, 2006]

Often a pet peeve will seem illogical to others. For example, a supervisor may have a pet peeve about people leaving the lid on the copier up and react angrily, be annoyed when others interrupt when speaking, or by messy desks of their subordinates. [cite book |author=Green, Thad B., Jay T Knippen |title=Breaking the Barrier to Upward Communication |publisher=Quorum/Greenwood |year=1999 |pages=p. 34-37] That same supervisor may witness employees coming into work late, and not feel any annoyance whatsoever.

References

External links

* [http://www.word-detective.com/060704.html Word Detective origins of Pet Peeve]
* [http://lists.topica.com/lists/WordOrigins/read/message.html?sort=t&mid=902077495 Take Our Word For It Issue 138]
* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=pet+peeve&searchmode=none Online Etymology Dictionary]