pet peeve essay topics

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September 26, 2017

10 Pet Peeves in College Admissions Essays

There are a number of mistakes students make in their college admissions essays, mistakes that significantly hurt their cases for admission. But there are certain mistakes that so many students make each and every year that we figured we’d highlight for the loyal readers of our college admissions blog in the hope that maybe, just maybe it’ll dissuade students from writing these sorts of things in their admissions essays in future years. These sorts of mistakes, mistakes committed not only within the Common Application Personal Statement but also within supplemental essays are, in our view, egregious blunders.

1. Dialogue. While there can be exceptions, when college applicants start off their essays with dialogue, it typically reads as juvenile.

2. Webster’s Dictionary definitions. Thanks for letting us know how Webster’s Dictionary defines a word. An admissions officer is hoping to gain insight into you. If they wanted to study the dictionary, certainly they could find a Webster’s Dictionary somewhere.

3. Life lessons. That time you fell down in a track meet but got back up and realized the importance of perseverance — you bet it rings as cliché. Big time.

4. Starting too many sentences with ‘I’. Mix it up. “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.” It’s not all about you. And if you’ve never seen “The Brady Bunch,” you surely won’t understand our reference but we’re ok with that.

5. Spelling and grammatical errors. Yes, it’s obvious. But sometimes we feel the need to state the obvious. Proofread every word of every sentence of every essay. It’s rare when we read an essay that we didn’t work on with a student that doesn’t have spelling and / or grammatical errors.

6. Subtle or not-so-subtle brags . Don’t try to impress. You’re going to turn admissions officers off. Don’t write about winning some competition. That’s an award to list under Honors. It’s not something you should be writing about in essays.

7. Generic sentences in Why College essays. “I want to go to UPenn because the school offers a great liberal arts education.” Fantastic. So does every other highly selective school. You’re fooling nobody that you wrote that sentence specifically for UPenn.

8. Windows into your youth. College admissions officers want to read about you in the present day. They don’t want to read about what you were like as an eight year-old. Bring your story into the present — from the beginning.

9. Disparaging others. Don’t put down classmates or others to try to make yourself look better. It’ll have the opposite impact.

10. Summaries. Admissions officers didn’t forget what you wrote earlier on in the essay. They aren’t goldfish. There’s no need to repeat things. Use all of the real estate you have to offer new insights.

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15 Pet Peeves Speech Topics

We’ve all been there. You’re asked to give a speech on a topic of your choice, and you sit there for hours, racking your brain for ideas. The pressure is on to deliver a speech that will engage the audience and leave a lasting impression.

If you’re struggling to find a topic that fits the bill, here are 10 pet peeve speech ideas that are sure to get your audience’s attention.

What is a pet peeve?

A pet peeve is something that someone finds annoying or bothersome. It can be anything from a small, everyday annoyance to a major irritation. Some common pet peeves include people talking loudly on phone calls in public places, people leaving the toilet seat up, and people taking up too much space on public transportation.

While pet peeves may seem trivial, they can actually cause a lot of stress and anxiety for those who are constantly dealing with them. If you’re looking for a speech topic that is sure to get your audience’s attention, consider discussing one of your (or their!) pet peeves.

We all have different particular things that get under our skin, as well as shared common annoyances – and that’s what makes pet peeve speeches so interesting to listen to.

Pet Peeve Speech Topics

Hunting for ideas for your next speech but feeling stuck? Not to worry – we’ve all been there! To help get the creative juices flowing , here is a list pet peeve speech topics that are sure to engage your audience:

• Slow drivers
• The friend who is always late
• People who talk on their cell phones in public places
• Slow walkers (especially if it is a group of people!)
• Foot tapping
• People who let their dogs poop or pee on my lawn and don’t pick it up!
• When people don’t hold the door open for others
• Drivers who don’t use turn signals
• People who text while driving
• Cutters – people who line jump in queues
• Those who monopolize conversations
• People who violate personal space boundaries – i.e., standing too close in lineups or on elevators
• When the toilet paper is facing a certain direction (we all know over is the correct way!)
• People who lack spacial awareness – i.e., standing in the middle of a busy sidewalk to do something on their phone

Giving a pet peeve speech is a great way to get your audience laughing and engaged in your speech. To make your pet peeve speech even more effective, it’s always a good idea to try to personalize it by sharing a story or experience that illustrates your main points. And don’t forget to make genuine eye contact.

Example of a Pet Peeve Speech

Imagine you’re giving a speech to a group of your peers on the topic of pet peeves. Here’s an example of what your speech might sound like. Feel free to use it as a jumping point and use your own words to describe your own pet peeve experiences.

We all have pet peeves. Those little things that bother us and get under our skin. Sometimes they’re annoying, but harmless. Other times, they’re downright infuriating! But whether they’re big or small , we all have them.

Today, I’m going to talk about some of my personal pet peeves. Things that bother me on a daily basis. Hopefully, by the end of this speech, you’ll be able to relate to at least one of my pet peeves. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll even learn something new about yourself in the process.

So, without further ado, here are some of my pet peeves:

1. People who talk over others in conversation. This is something that I see all too often, and it drives me crazy! There’s nothing worse than trying to have a conversation with someone, only to have them talk over you the entire time. It’s rude and it makes it difficult to carry on a meaningful conversation.

2. Chewing with your mouth open. This is another pet peeve of mine that falls into the category of common courtesy. There’s no need to be gross and chew with your mouth open. It’s disrespectful to those around you and it’s just plain icky!

3. Using your phone in public places. I get it, we all rely on our phones nowadays. But that doesn’t mean you should be using it in every single social situation. There’s nothing more annoying than trying to have a conversation with someone who can’t put their phone down for even a minute. So, next time you’re out with friends or family , try to keep your phone usage to a minimum.

4. Interrupting others. This is yet another pet peeve of mine that has to do with common courtesy. It’s just plain rude to interrupt someone when they’re speaking. Whether you have something important to say or not, it’s important to let the other person finish what they’re saying before jumping in.

5. People who are always late. This is my biggest pet peeve! I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of this one at least once in our lives. But being late is inconsiderate and it often throws off the entire schedule for whatever event you’re supposed to be attending. So, next time you’re invited to something, try to be on time! Or at least be considerate enough to call BEFORE to say you’re running behind.

Those are just a few of my pet peeves. I could probably go on for hours about all the little things that bother me on a daily basis. But I’ll spare you the details!

Hopefully, this speech has given you some insight into some of my pet peeves. And maybe, just maybe, you can relate to some of them too. Thanks for listening!

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The New York Times

The learning network | can’t complain writing about pet peeves.

Can’t Complain? Writing About Pet Peeves

Academic Skills

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

• See all in Language Arts »
• See all lesson plans »

Overview | How can students express their complaints in articulate and constructive ways? In this lesson, students read The New York Times “Complaint Box” series and use descriptive and persuasive writing strategies to communicate their own pet peeves succinctly and productively.

Materials | Computers with Internet access (if available)

Warm-up | As students assemble, visibly and obviously act out one or more of your biggest pet peeves, like squeaking the chalk or your nails on the board; talking with a mouth full of food or chewing gum; brushing your hair, applying cosmetics or clipping your nails; or talking on your cellphone or texting.

When students express confusion, horror or surprise, write the term “pet peeve” on the board and have them identify which pet peeves you were just acting out. Ask: Why do you (students) think these behaviors bother me (the teacher)? What would the school atmosphere be like if students and teachers often did these things?

Next, ask them to brainstorm a list of eight to 10 behaviors that they find most irksome. What are their personal “pet peeves”? What makes them jump out of their skin? Whip around the room and as students share, compile a master list of the things that make your students boil. Wrap up the warm-up by having students choose one item from the list and freewrite for five minutes about why this behavior annoys them.

Related | In “Complaint Box: Public Grooming,” Lion Calandra gripes about the very public ways in which commuters on public transportation attend to their personal hygiene:

These days, if someone seated near me on my morning ride is putting on makeup, someone else is clipping his fingernails (and, on one odd occasion this summer, a toenail). Or they’re plucking eyebrows, tying ties, squeezing pimples, even spraying perfume. There are those who just have to bathe themselves in lotion. Others are brushing their hair. It’s the full monty, commuter style.

Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:

• What do you think about “public grooming”? Is it one of your own “pet peeves,” or do you think it is acceptable? Why?
• What do you think the author’s tone of voice was when he said “Maybe tomorrow you can shave your legs on the train” to the woman who had just finished flossing her teeth? How can you tell?
• What connection does the author make between public grooming and modern media, like YouTube and reality television? Do you agree or disagree?
• Have you ever groomed yourself in public? If so, would you think twice about doing so after reading this essay?

Related Resources

From the learning network.

• Lesson: Care to Comment: Considering Internet Discussion Protocol
• Lesson: Responding in Kind
• Teaching Topics: 10 Personal Writing Ideas

From NYTimes.com

• City Room: “Public Grooming Stirs Vigorous Debate”
• Schott’s Vocab: “Weekend: Pet Peeves and Vocab Vexations”
• Diner’s Journal: “The Peeves of Others”

Around the Web

• Read Write Think: Analyzing Grammar Pet Peeves
• GetAnnoyed.com: The Web’s Largest List of Pet Peeves

Activity | Explain to students that they will now prepare to write their own 500-word persuasive and descriptive essays about one of their pet peeves, inspired by the “Complaint Box” series .

Begin by having a discussion on what “worked” in Lion Calandra’s essay and what makes essays like this one interesting to read in general. You might prompt students to consider vivid description, colorful language, strong imagery, specific examples and details, dialogue, etc. They should also consider structure. Ask: How does the writer “hook” the reader from the beginning? How does the middle of the essay proceed? How does the author end the piece?

Ask students to return to the pet peeve they did the freewrite about from the warm-up (or to choose a different one) and do some more writing about it, using the following prompts:

• Write a few descriptive sentences about why this particular thing really irks you.
• Think of one to three examples of times when you observed someone engaging in this behavior. When did it happen? Where did it take place? What exactly did the person do? Describe the scene as vividly as you can.
• Have you ever addressed the person doing this thing directly? If so, what did you say, and what happened? If not, why not?
• What are some reasons why people engage in this behavior? Are they aware that it is bothersome to others?
• What factors might foster this behavior? How might people be dissuaded from engaging in this behavior?

When students are finished drafting, ask for volunteers who are willing to share their writing.

Alternatively or in addition, encourage students to share their pet peeves publicly in response to the Learning Network Student Opinion post “What Are Your Pet Peeves?” . Remind students that blogs are public and their comments – if approved – will be posted in perpetuity. They should take care in writing their responses and must identify themselves by first name only. They should also pay attention to The Learning Network’s commenting guidelines and rules and follow general Web posting etiquette .)

Next, split the class into pairs or small groups, and assign each one to read another “Complaint Box” post. Suggestions: “Immobile on the Phone” (about people who stand still, blocking the sidewalk, while on their cell phones), “iPod Volume” (about having to listen to others’ music because the volume on their iPod is turned up too loudly), “I See London” (about men wearing their pants so that their underwear is visible), “Counter Culture” (about rude or inattentive sales clerks) or “No More Cheeks to Turn” (about kids picking on a girl at camp). Or, have groups choose a post from the entire series .

In their groups, students should fill out the sheet Opening Up the Complaint Box (PDF) as they read their chosen post.

When they are finished, have each pair or group should share their findings with the group, discussing the parts of the essay that they feel were successful and sharing their favorite parts. Afterward, ask the class: What can we learn from what works (and what doesn’t) in these essays? Make a list of writing strategies and techniques on the board.

Students should then write a full rough draft of a “Complaint Box”-style essay about their own peeve. Once they are finished, they should hold peer or student and teacher conferences and then revise the draft for a final version.

Going further | When all essays are complete, hold an “author’s chair” or “sharing day,” in which students have the opportunity to share their work. You might also consider compiling the essays into a literary magazine of complaints or submitting them to the school newspaper. Alternatively, create an online blog or wiki space to which students can contribute more complaint essays on an ongoing basis.

Standards | From McREL , for grades 6-12:

Writing 1-Uses the general skill and strategies of the writing process 2-Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing 3-Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written composition

Arts and Communication 4- Understands ways in which the human experience is transmitted and reflected in the arts and communication

Comments are no longer being accepted.

I love it~I was just looking for some fresh ideas for persuasive writing. I’ll take a cue from you!

Wonderful! Sometimes I get so bogged down with lesson plans, grading, and keeping my head above water that I lose sight of experiential ways to teach students practical and formal writing.

Unfortunately I find this new website confusing. How can I access the website for lessons plans by narrowing my search using key terms and clicking the subject. It seems that with this new website i would have to go through hundreds of lesson plans before i find what im looking for.

My biggest pet-peeve is when People chew with their mouth full. The scene of meshed up food being tossed around in a person’s mouth is not pleasant. The sound of the food being crunched up to be digested is annoying with the smack of the mouth and the clatter of the teeth. Both of these combined makes it even worse,and results in me becoming aggravated with the disgusting person. People should take the time to view their surroundings and realized that they must be aware of others surroundings and that they should shut their lips when there is food inside their mouths.

Public Cracking Knuckles Screaming Annoying Behavior

Public “Knuckle Cracking” brings the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It triggers the same reaction as running ones finger nails over a caulk board to me. It’s either a nervous habit some people develop when they are younger, with out concern to the destructive behaver it has on their joints years later. This annoying sound people create each time they do it, with out concern or not realizing the effect it may have on the surrounding people . A little public curtsy would be appreciated, grow your awareness of your behavior and make corrective changes before permanent damage is done.

One of my pet peeves is when you are eating and can hear a person chewing from across the table, can they not hear themselves????? Another one would be when people talk on the phone during movies, ugh that ticks me off and i just want to go and break their phone!!!!!

boring but gave me a lot of information.

You wanna know what my pet peeve is? Bullies. I hate bullies,like seriously why make someones life depressing because their either Ugly,Fat,or by the way they dress? Why do you have the right to judge or label someone? everyone is perfect in their own way.

Leaving a mean comment just to mess with someone,thats like when a 3 year old gets a new toy and forgets about it 2 days later.But the person who recieves the mean comments,thats gonna stick with them for the rest of their life no doubt.

I can remember being bullied in 4th,5th,and 6th grade.Why? because the things people would say to me were so horrible yet it still effects me today.

The internet is used for bullying as well,which is called Cyber bullying.The internet to me has turned into a huge social network to hurt others.Youtube,facebook,myspace,or any other social website has bullies on it,theres always someone looking to hurt other,words hurt.Most drama starts on Facebook,then usually ends up with bullying.

What can bullying cause? bullying can cause suicide,suicidel thoughts,and depression. Why would someone want others to feel pain?

Just about this…How hard is it not to press send?

What's Next

My Speech Class

Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

Pet Peeve Speech Topics

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

Pet peeve speech topics list on consultants bugbears, fashion trends grievances, and groans on promo spots plus three ways to find good public speaking input for things that get on your nerves.

On people who render peevish reactions amongst other persons:

• Drivers that do not look in their car mirrors when they change lanes.
• Slow drivers in the fast lane. This is one of the biggest gripes in traffic.
• Rude acting sports fans in front of television cameras.
• Slow service at a restaurant or having to wait too long for the bill.
• Consultants who tell you what to do because your boss do not dare.
• Parents that do not parent their shouting and screaming kids in public areas.

More pet peeve speech topics on awful and unpleasant people:

• who lock their animals in a car.
• who do not think for themselves and follow all bad fashion trends.
• who let their children scream and shout in the playground.
• who talk on their cell phones and are texting messages while driving.
• who think they own the world and act arrogant.
• who talk during movies at the movie theater.
• who are overly optimistic and happy.
• who say  cool  all the time.
• who network themselves in a better position by bowing and scraping to please the boss and kicking to low level workers.
• who are making a scene in public.
• who don’t turn off their cell phone at the movies.

And three pet peeve speech topics about companies:

• that raise the pay of chief executives in bad economic times.
• that refuse to return calls of job applicants.
• who blame you for their own mistakes.

Objects and situations are great sources for a pet peeve list on things that irritate you and make you groan and moan:

• Suv and Hummer drivers.
• Awful kid names – tell me is it a girl or a boy?
• Cliches of sports athletes.
• Inescapable pervasive spam with graphics and blinking texts without a clear situated closing cross.
• Britney Spears’ attitude to her honest fans.
• Customer service people that don’t understand what service is.
• Higer gas prices because of natural disasters.
• Complaints about a nipple but not on murders on televison.
• Promo spots in news programs, and teaser advertorials after each fifteen minutes in a television movie series. program.
• Automatic paper towel dispensers that are packed too tight.

This is a list of speech topics that get on my nerves and I can’t stand. Take them if you like. Or find your own bugbear:

Can We Write Your Speech?

Get your audience blown away with help from a professional speechwriter. Free proofreading and copy-editing included.

• Look around and select a situation or an object that vexes, or a person you feel strongly about.
• Read a newspaper or magazine and choose a current controversial event , for example an election candidate or so. Note your opinion – who causes you so much aggravation when she or he speaks?
• Think about things you like and that are threatened by for example government regulation. Those issues can be very good and effective for oral addresses on personal bugbears.

Narrative Speech [With Topics and Examples]

Graduation Speech [20 Examples + Template]

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Loud chewing people and chew with their mouth open.

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Home / Essay Samples / Life / Emotion / Pet Peeve

Pet Peeve Essay Examples

Pet peeve: the importance of being considerate and respectful.

As a frequent traveler, one of my biggest pet peeves is people who are oblivious to their surroundings in airports and on airplanes. It seems like there is always at least one person who is completely unaware of their surroundings and how their behavior is...

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