The sound of people eating
bypasses what little sense of rationality I have, and immediately attacks the part of my brain marked "grate". I have no idea why. If I can hear your teeth banging together as you chew, I will actually get up and leave the room and not come back until you have finished eating. I have racked my brains countless times to the possible cause of this irritation, but I still can't figure it out. It just causes me immediate tension and irritability.

The same thing goes for the sound of people whispering into microphones on adverts, like that advert for Laterooms (I think) with the woman whispering like she's letting us all in on a secret. If I don't manage to turn over within the first 3 seconds of it being on, I feel like I want to bite something....
( PMGT -Bacon., Thu 4 Oct 2012, 16:48, 2 replies)

Couldn't agree more.
I used to work with a bloke who would loudly SLURP tea or noisily eat an apple whilst talking to me on the 'phone. Each time he did it I would put the 'phone down and ring him back a few minutes later when I knew he'd be finished.

He was a really top bloke in every other respect,smart, funny, great company but he had the table manners of a farm animal.

We once flew to South Africa together for work .........12 hour flight of noisy eating and drinking, I nearly asked to be moved.

A year after that we went to New Zealand for work.

Length? 37 hours each way.
(Barnetboy, Thu 4 Oct 2012, 17:15, closed)

My old man had a couple of choice phrases to counteract noisy eaters
'Are you enjoying that?'
'yes'
'Well, it fucking sounds like it'

and the classic

'Don't smack your lips or I'll smack 'em for you'

Thankfully I'm a little more tolerant than my old man but it still makes my fists itch!
( JamHamster My eyes, my beautiful eyes!, Thu 4 Oct 2012, 18:09, closed)