A pet peeve is something that annoys you personally more than most things. It is usually a small thing that other people don't even notice: loud phone calls, lateness, noisy eating. The expression is American; in British English, pet hate is more common. Both are informal: they make it easy to talk about what annoys you in the speaking part of an exam, but in an essay a particular annoyance sounds more neutral.
When would you say pet peeve?
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my (biggest) pet peeve is + noun/-ing; one of my pet peeves is + -ing; pet hate (UK)
- One of my pet peeves is people talking loudly on their phones on the train.
- My biggest pet peeve at work is meetings that could have been an email.
- Slow walkers in narrow streets are my sister's pet peeve.
What changed
First versionMy pet peeve is to wait for friends who are always late.
RevisionMy pet peeve is waiting for friends who are always late.
To wait may seem natural, as in I hate to wait. But after pet peeve is, an infinitive sounds like a goal or a dream, as if waiting were your plan, like My dream is to travel. The annoying activity is named with the -ing form, so to wait was replaced with waiting.
Pet here doesn't mean an animal; it means “favourite, your own”, as in pet project, a favourite project you work on for pleasure. So it is a kind of “favourite” annoyance. In the UK, people say pet hate: My pet hate is people who never reply to messages.
Your turn
I don't mind noise or crowds, but ___ is people who don't say thank you when I hold the door.
Show the answer
my pet peeve — But contrasts noise and crowds with what really annoys the speaker: rude people. That is my pet peeve. My pet project means “my favourite project”, and rude people can't be that.
Write about the small thing that annoys you most. Say where you come across it and how it makes you feel.
My biggest pet peeve is people who leave dirty cups in the office kitchen, and every time I see them I feel really annoyed.
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