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Random Queries > What really grinds your gears/melts your butter?

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message 1: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
I'll start:

It melts my butter when I see someone get excited to take my parking spot in a crowded lot or on the side streets near campus.

It grinds my gears when in class people say "I was just gonna say..." before speaking. You are saying it, idiot! Keep going!


message 2: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) It grinds my gears when people say, "Can I ask you a question?"

You just did!


message 3: by Jamie (new)

Jamie oh yay you started one!!

Ok, it really grinds my gears when someone uses the copy machine and they don't know what they're doing when they jam it, so instead of getting help, they walk away from the problem and leave it there for the next unsuspecting person who needs to use it.

Offices Suck....


message 4: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
It grinds my gears when I have to hover and spray because someone else has dripped because they're too lazy to wipe.


message 5: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) Wait ... I thought you stood up. Oh never mind.


message 6: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
That's when I'm in the woods, Larry.


message 7: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) Ah. Sorry. It's really none of my business.


message 8: by RandomAnthony (new)

RandomAnthony | 14536 comments Ok, "melts my butter" is a good thing, right?

It melts my butter when I see the students on campus be polite with each other, hold doors, etc. as if it's the most natural thing in the world. Courtesy melts my butter.

Traffic lately has been grinding my gears. And today I'm driving into Chicago. But for some reason I can handle traffic better in Chicago than in Milwaukee because traffic in Milwaukee doesn't seem necessary but more the result of bad driving.


message 9: by RandomAnthony (new)

RandomAnthony | 14536 comments Sally, do you find your students say "I was just gonna say" a lot? I think sometimes they don't want to sound as if they have something very important to say, as if they're not particularly confident of their in-class assertions...


message 10: by Dan (new)

Dan Schwent (akagunslinger) Public restrooms create a lot of gear grinding moments.

What really grinds my gears is when someone uses one of those toilet seat covers or creates their own ass gasket out of toilet paper and doesn't dispose of it afterwards.


message 11: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) RandomAnthony wrote: "Sally, do you find your students say "I was just gonna say" a lot? I think sometimes they don't want to sound as if they have something very important to say, as if they're not particularly confid..."

And for the same reason, do their statements come out sounding like timid questions?




message 12: by [deleted user] (new)



It melts my butter when I get a really good hug.


message 13: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) Me, too, WA.


message 14: by [deleted user] (new)



virtual hug winging it's way through the virtual ether for you Larry.


message 15: by David (new)

David (bowsertheturtle) i don't like when people talk over movies or shows if i'm really interested in them and or haven't seen them before..


message 16: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) Windfall Apple wrote: "

virtual hug winging it's way through the virtual ether for you Larry."


Ah ... perfect. Thank you.




message 17: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
The "I was gonna say" comment was more about my classmates in my graduate classes - especially first years.


message 18: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) Like sticking the toe in the water to test the temperature.


message 19: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
Right Bun. Exactly. Gears ground.


message 20: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) It comes with maturity and experience. Although it seems some are born without that hesitation factor.


message 21: by Félix (last edited Oct 30, 2009 08:00AM) (new)

Félix (habitseven) For sure. As the Gambler said, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run ...."


message 22: by Sarah (new)

Sarah | 13814 comments They might also be getting their thoughts together as they say it.
I have a placeholder "um" that I've been trying to get rid of ever since my mother pointed it out to me last year. I had no idea that I did it, but it actually starts many of my sentences.


message 23: by [deleted user] (new)

One thing that grinds me gears is people who preface saying something bad with I hate to say it/this, but....

No. Either say what you're going to say, or shut up. Don't soften anything with a preface.


message 24: by [deleted user] (new)

As in, no offense, but your mom, she's a giant whore.


message 25: by David (new)

David (bowsertheturtle) that reminds me of this sort of new phrase i dont know if you guys heard of it, but people said it in college a lot.. 'no homo' as in "i love you man, no homo" or insert any turn of phrase that can be construed in anyway homosexual.. sometimes it was humorous i'll have to admit, but it got old and i'm not too big of a fan of it..


message 26: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
Just as bad is saying "just kidding" after saying something lame, offensive, or rude.


message 27: by Angie (new)

Angie (angabel) "I'm not a racist, but..."

Or substituting "black people" for "those people" and thinking that by using those words, it makes them somehow less racist.

In college it would grind my gears when my classmates would purposefully try to change a discussion away from the piece of literature we were discussing to something more abstract, so that they could speak up in class and get participation points even though they hadn't read the book(s). Sometimes this happens in class, and you start talking about your experiences relating to what a character experienced, but there was one guy in one of my classes who would brag after class, "yeah, man, did you see how I turned that into a conversation about watching television?! she has no idea I didn't read any of the book! rock on!"

It grinds my gears when people continue to say things that they know hurt/upset me after I've told them to stop, but most humans feel this way.

It melts my butter when I'm able to connect with someone that I previously didn't understand, like "That Old Guy in the Back of the Class." He's probably as old as the professor or older (which doesn't mean much, I know, haha) and tends to go on at length when he talks, and brings up a number of tangential ideas. Most people just want him to shut up. One of these guys ended up giving me a ride in his blue convertible (woooo!) to a poetry reading, and we talked the whole way down and I was just blown-away by his intelligent and earnestness and zest for the material. It left me wondering, why the hell was he in an undergrad class when clearly he is thinking and going things on at least a grad level, maybe even a Ph. D. level?? It was awesome.

It melts my butter anytime someone accepts/learns to accept someone with visible differences from them, be it colored hair, piercings, tattoos, scars, or other physical disabilities. It also melts my butter when people treat each other like human beings, like when they look at the Salvation Army bell-ringer and smile and give change, or don't just walk away from the kids who are standing out in the cold/heat trying to sell candy bars to support their school.


message 28: by David (new)

David (bowsertheturtle) Angie wrote: "
In college it would grind my gears when my classmates would purposefully try to change a discussion away from the piece of literature we were discussing to something more abstract, so that they could speak up in class and get participation points even though they hadn't read the book(s). "


i sort of did this but i never changed the topic off of the book, i talked about the meaning and implications of what the characters were going through and how it could apply to life or current events.. and other things about the story line, but if the professor asked me what the characters names were or what relation they had to something specific i couldn't tell her..


message 29: by Jamie (new)

Jamie It really melts my butter wacthing my son open all his presents tonight for his 10th birthday..he's having so much fun..

It grinds my gears that now I realize I'm getting older and these damn presents that eveyone bought him is taking rocket science to put together..


message 30: by David (new)

David (bowsertheturtle) i thought of a new one.. it grinds my gears when someone asks a question they know the answer to just to make a point..


message 31: by [deleted user] (new)

THIS REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS...

Anyone who compares their own "tragedies" or concocts so-called "tragedies" and compares them to 9/11. Or has the audacity to claim these "tragedies" will be worse than 9/11.

Like that pus-filled douchebag Glenn Beck did yesterday, comparing health care reform to 9/11.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAHnYu...

I hope this guy gets mouth cancer tomorrow.


message 32: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
I thought of one:

It grinds my gears when people call me Sal. I hate that. Hate hate hate hate that.

It really melts my butter, tho, when they call me Sally Mae, or Sally Sue, or any cute 50s version of my name.


message 33: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) We love you Sally.


message 34: by [deleted user] (new)

I totally agree with you Sally Mae.


message 35: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) What about Sara?


message 36: by [deleted user] (new)

nope, Sally Mae is the 'butter melter'


message 37: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) Mmmmmmm ... now I want some popcorn.


message 38: by [deleted user] (last edited Nov 03, 2009 12:06PM) (new)

corn popping Larry, as we speak!


message 39: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) I smell it!


message 40: by [deleted user] (new)

Enjoy!


message 41: by [deleted user] (new)

Can I have some too.



message 42: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) Sure, Jim. Grab a bowl.


message 43: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
Larry, what about Sara? I don't mind being called it, I answer to it, I don't have any truck driver or diner waitress aversions to it, but I don't much feel like it's my name, either.


message 44: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven) Oh. I thought it was. Sally Lou.


message 45: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
It is, technically.


message 46: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
Remember how I just learned that "segue" was pronounced with two syllables?
Right after I learned that I'd been mispronouncing it for years I heard the KBCO radio announcer doing it! She said it like it rhymed with "leg."


message 47: by Félix (new)

Félix (habitseven)


message 48: by Sally, la reina (new)

Sally (mrsnolte) | 17373 comments Mod
mmmhmm. Yeah, now I know.


message 49: by Angie (new)

Angie (angabel) lol @ Larry

And Knarik, that's unfortunate. I tend to shy away from words that can be mispronounced and mean something different. For instance, in Tibetan, the words for "ice" and "shit", as well as "grass" and "salt" sound very similar. I refused to say those words because I knew I would mispronounce them!

Are there any words in Armenian like this?


message 50: by Gail (new)

Gail It grinds my gears when I see the word "seminal" used and used and used yet again...and not followed by or in the context of fluid. My favorite (Can one have a favorite gear-grinder?) was a usage in a serious book discussion about feminist works, describing a particular feminist writer as having a "seminal" influence on other writers. Eh, what was that? Surely you could have expressed that a bit better.

Courtesy and kindness melt my butter every time.


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