Things You Do Every Day That Annoy Other People

1. Humblebragging

We all have days when we’re eager to share a personal victory, but don’t know how to bring it up without sounding like we’re patting ourselves on the back. Unfortunately, in many cases, what comes out is worse: the humblebrag, or “backdoor brag,” a way of boasting without outright saying what you’re proud of. For instance: “I had to hire a housekeeper because my new house is just too big for me to take care of alone.”

2. Not standing to one side on an escalator

Despite what many people seem to think, there are rules for using an escalator. Unless you really want to annoy other people, move to the right when you’re standing still, and stick to the left side if you’re walking up or down.

3. Starting an order with, “Can I get a…?”

Just because you’re in a rush to get your morning coffee doesn’t mean that’s an excuse to be rude. However, despite our best intentions, many of us still place an order - in cafés, in bars, in restaurants - with, “Can I get a…?” instead of the more polite, “May I please have…?”

4. Not holding the door for the person behind you

If someone holds the door for you, it’s your responsibility to grab it and hold it for the next person. Unfortunately, when we’re in a rush, many of us forget about this crucial etiquette rule, leaving the person who held the door for us initially to play de facto doorman for another 10 people before getting a break. However, you also don’t want to hold the door open for someone who’s too far away, forcing that person to speed up to receive your kind gesture.

5. Refusing to walk single-file on a crowded sidewalk

Sometimes, you’re so in love with your significant other or so wrapped up in a conversation with your friends, you don’t want to stop walking in step with them. But this presents a very annoying situation for practically any pedestrian near you: They either have to slow down to walk at your pace or try to get around you (often to no avail).

6. Singing along to a song like you’re trying to win a Groove Award

We all sing along to songs sometimes, regardless of our actual proficiency. However, the one thing more annoying than listening to someone’s off-key rendition…

7. Not returning your shopping cart

Sure, we all have those times when bringing the cart back to the store seems like more trouble than it’s worth. That said, there’s virtually nothing more annoying than finding the perfect parking spot in front of a store only to realize it’s already occupied by someone’s runaway cart.

8. Talking limitlessly about how busy you are

No matter what your job, your family situation, or your list of hobbies is, chances are, you consider yourself a pretty busy person. If you’re constantly talking about how busy you are, however, it comes across as the most annoying kind of humblebrag.

9. Looking at your phone when you’re talking to someone in person

Even in the throes of an engrossing conversation, the appeal of a phone sometimes simply proves to be too much. Unfortunately, this often leads to one of the more egregiously annoying habits out there: talking to someone who’s more interested in what’s going on on their phone

10. Tapping your feet

Why is it that people in offices forget their manners with such shocking frequency? Tapping your foot under your desk does more than create distracting noise; it also has a tendency to shake whatever’s on your coworkers’ desks.

11. Parking too close to the line in a parking lot

We’ve all been there: You’re in a hurry to get into the store before it closes and you wind up parking your car a little too close to the line in the parking lot or, worse yet, over it. Unfortunately, when you do this, you might just be the one who pays the price - in dings or scratches on your precious ride.

12. Finishing a food item and putting the container back in the fridge

Whether it’s a forgetful habit or just a lazy one, we’ve all been guilty of putting an empty container back in the fridge after you’ve taken the last bite or sip, setting someone else up for disappointment down the line.

13. Replying all

Reply all is a great function when you’re working on a group project or delivering information to your whole family at a go. However, in most settings, there’s no reason to deliver your response to everyone on an email chain—thanking your boss for your holiday bonus doesn’t need to be something the whole office sees.

14. Putting something back on the wrong shelf at the grocery store

So, you’re at the supermarket and you realized that you just picked the wrong kind of bread. What do you do? Unfortunately, for many of us, the answer is, “Stick it on any nearby shelf and hope someone finds it.” Want to know how the employee there feels about that?

15. Talking at the movies

We all get surprised and scared at the movies from time to time. That said, we all know better than to scream, “Don’t go in there!” at the screen…oh please, shut up!

16. Wearing too much fragrance

It’s not always easy to know exactly what the right amount of cologne or perfume is, especially once you’re used to the smell of your signature fragrance. However, if you’re putting on more than a spritz or two - especially if you’re going to be in close quarters with others - you’re probably annoying someone.

17. Going to an express checkout counter with more than 5 items

C’mon. The sign overhead says less than 5 items! All you have to do is count up to 5! Why is this so hard?

18. Taking a phone call at the gym

It’s fine to talk at the gym, but taking a phone call is particularly annoying. The gym is a meditative space for plenty of people, meaning that petty argument you’re having with your spouse is just about the last thing they want to hear.

19. Not replacing the toilet paper roll

It takes mere seconds to replace a roll of toilet paper when you’ve used the last of it. If you leave an empty roll or just place a new one on top of the old one, make no mistake: You’re guilty of some seriously annoying behavior

20. Humming along with a song in public

Just because your jam comes on doesn’t mean it’s time to sing along. However, there is one greater offense out there: humming. Nobody’s ever thought, “This song would sound so much better if it was kind of amelodic and had no words… just zip up and listen!

21. RSVPing at the last minute

RSVP by dates are there for a reason. If you’re leaving your RSVP until the last minute or not RSVPing at all, you’re definitely holding up the hosts and possibly guaranteeing yourself a spot-on next year’s “don’t invite” list.

22. Leaving the toilet seat up

Unless you think it’s hilarious to have someone else fall into toilet water, it’s time to start putting the toilet seat down—and the lid, too, for that matter.

23. Stopping short while walking

We’ve all had that moment of realization while walking where we remember something we needed to do and it stops us in our tracks. Unfortunately, it’s always pretty annoying for the person behind you who’s forced to suddenly navigate around you or risk bumping straight into you.

24. Fishing food out of your teeth, in public

That corn particle stuck in your teeth from earlier is annoying. The only thing more annoying? Others watching you pick it out.

25. Listening to music on your headphones loud enough so other people can hear

It’s not always easy to tell how loud your music is when you’ve got your headphones on. The sound of the beat blasting out of someone else’s earbuds, however, is never short of incredibly irritating to hear.

26. Sniffing loudly instead of blowing your nose

Sometimes, you just don’t feel like blowing your nose. And while loudly honking into a tissue isn’t exactly cute, nonstop sniffing is infinitely more irritating to those around you.

27. Taking up both armrests of the seat

It’s totally understandable that you’d want two armrests - you do have two arms, after all. However, you never want to be the person who’s always stealing both sides. You get one to yourself, and the other’s for sharing.

28. Eating loudly

Whether you’re slurping soup or taking big bites of a salad, we’ve all been guilty of eating loudly at one point or another. And if you’re a person who smacks their lips or kind of moans when something’s really delicious, someone out there is definitely annoyed by your dining habits.

29. Cycling without obeying traffic signals

If you’re on a bike, you can kind of fudge the rules a bit when it comes to traffic signals, right? Not quite! You can’t choose to function as a pedestrian or a car, depending on which situation works in your favor. That’s the quickest way to becoming a traffic-causing, potentially injurious mess.

30. Blocking the sidewalk to get a photo

People will do virtually anything in pursuit of the perfect Instagram photo. Unfortunately, that often means taking up the entire width of a city block to do so, slowing down everybody in the process.

31. Typing in all caps

It’s sometimes hard to get your point across via text, leading to the inevitable annoyance of the occasional all caps message. That said, there are plenty of people who don’t seem to know how to turn off their caps lock at all, leading to strangely aggressive - and always irritating - forms of communication.

32. Texting while walking

Do texts sometimes come in when you’re on the sidewalk? Yes of course. Does it annoy your fellow pedestrians when you keep bumping into them because you refuse to look up from your phone? Also, yes.

33. Somehow making every conversation about you

Everyone wants to talk about themselves—it’s just human nature. That said, if you find yourself talking about your personal life when you went over to a friend’s house to console them about a breakup or a death in their family, you’re definitely guilty of an annoying habit - you should take a break.

34. Trying to add to a queue from the side instead of getting in the back

Queues are pretty simple: You stand one behind the next person until you reach where you’re going. That said, we’ve all been guilty of trying to add to queue in our own creative ways, whether that means creating a perpendicular queue or deciding that the existing queue is suddenly double-file or just straight-up cutting, which is frankly just rude.

35. Putting your bag on the seat next to you

A nice bag can cost more than a decent used car, and that sometimes means we baby our briefcases, backpacks, and purses a bit too much. And while this is a pretty annoying habit in any situation, it’s a particularly when you’re in a public space, allowing your bag to take up a seat isn’t cool.

36. Standing too close to other people in line

Just because you’ve mostly mastered the art of standing in a queue doesn’t mean you’re free of annoying in-line habits. Case in point: all of those people who will get so close to you in a checkout or check-in line that you can feel their breath on your neck.

37. Clicking a pen

It’s a shame that pens are so fun to click over and over, because there are few sounds more infuriating, particularly in close quarters like an office.

38. Leaving read receipts on

We’re well into the 21st century - there’s no excuse to keep your read receipts on at this point. Unless, of course, you’re just trying to make it clear to specific people that they are ignoring your messages.

39. Not letting people off an elevator before you get on

It’s always annoying to find yourself waiting for what seems like an everlasting amount of time to find an elevator you can squeeze yourself into. However, no matter how rushed you are, there’s no excuse not to let the people inside get off first.

40. Starting a sentence with “can I ask you a question?”

If you start a sentence with “can I ask you a question?” really? That’s a question already. And unsurprisingly, it’s annoying!

41. Running late

We all have those days when we just can’t seem to get anywhere on time. That said, if you’re consistently late, it’s pretty annoying for all of those people waiting on you.

42. Posting vague status updates on social media

Commonly known as “vague-booking,” posting bewildering statuses on social media about your life has to be one of the most annoying habits of all time. Seriously, you took the time to write, “You know what you did,” but won’t tell any of your hooked audience? Come on!

43. Snapping your gum

Those who follow strict etiquette rules will tell you that chewing gum is a pretty major blunder in the first place. If you’re also snapping it while you chew, you’re definitely making everyone around you annoyed, too.

44. Using overly-familiar nicknames

Those nicknames you have for your significant other and close friends are cute. But calling your coworker “sweetie” or “darling,” however, is nothing short of annoying.

45. Bringing strong scented food to work

That batch of fried fish or boiled eggs that you decided to bring to work has to be one of the office’s petty offenses. There are few things more irritating - or sickening - than having the entire office fill up with the scent of someone’s cuisine.

46. Not wiping down the machines at the gym

We get it: You’re tired and a little distracted after a hard workout. That said, unless you’re trying to get yourself banned from the gym, it really is your responsibility to personally wipe your sweat off the machines.

47. Talking constantly about your diet

Unless someone asks you about your diet, odds are they don’t really have much interest in hearing about it. Your friends probably get the gist of going vegan or ditching meat. They don’t need you rattling off everything you ate last week!

48. Bragging about your new relationships

Is new love special and magical? Of course! Is it really, really, really annoying for someone else to hear why you think your significant other has the world’s most perfect calves? Absolutely.

49. Keeping your phone’s sound on

While science has yet to confirm it, virtually anyone can attest to the fact that the sounds made by another person’s phone in public are at least 1,000 percent more irritating than the sounds made by their own devices.

50. Not being ready to order when you get to the counter. Sure, everyone gets flustered from time to time when they reach the counter after waiting in a long queue. However, unless you’re consciously trying to annoy everyone behind you, there’s no reason to not know what you’re getting by the time you reach the front of the queue!