Conversational

How to express annoyance?

Hiya! Do you ever get annoyed? You know, when there is a very irritating person around you, or simply that bad things happen to you? You feel annoyed, irritated and angry.

What would you say in such situations to express how you feel? Well, there are loads of ways to do so.

Suppose, you’re in a hurry to get to the cinema, so you throw yourself into a taxi, but the taxi gets stuck in heavy traffic.

Blimey!
Bummer!
Damn!
Dammit!
Fudge!
Oh my word!
Oh my days!

Okay, maybe you want to be less direct and look more sophisticated. Or even you want to start a conversation with the taxi-driver. So you would say something like:

How annoying!
This is ridiculous!
This is so stupid!
For goodness sake!

Now, to sound natural, you will need to add proper stress and intonation. Listen carefully and repeat after me (you’ll have to pause the video, though):

Blimey!
Bummer!
Damn!
Dammit!
Fudge!
For goodness sake!
Oh my word!
Oh my days!
Oh my life!
For flip’s sake!

And the more sophisticated ones here:

How annoying!
How ridiculous!
How stupid!
It’s so infuriating!
It’s so crazy!
It’s flipping annoying!
What a nuisance!

Great. Now go, and continue practising. See you soon!

Exercises

1. Read the mini situations and and decide whether or not the following reactions are proper.

1. Getting dressed in the morning, you suddenly notice a coffee stain on your blouse/shirt. You go like “It is so infuriating!” Is it proper in this situation?

2. As you’re waiting for the bus in the rain, a driver splashes you over with water. In annoyance, you shout “Dammit!” Does it suit the situation?

3. At a wedding reception, your microphone looks to be off when you want to say a toast. You go like “Bummer! This flipping mike! What a crap!” Do the guests agree?

4. During a business dinner, your business partner tells you a funny story about a stewardess that served him vodka instead of water. You laugh and say, “Oh my days!” Is that proper reaction?

5. Your computer suddenly shuts down. Everything that you’ve been working on is lost. “Crap! This is ridiculous!” Does that sound natural?

2. Read the mini situations and put your reactions in the comment box below.

1. You’re at an informal party drinking your favourite drink. Suddenly, someone accidentally bumps into you, and you spill the drink over your blouse/shirt.

2. You’re about to watch your favourite serial on TV. Pressing the buttons on the remote control, you discover that the TV set has gone wrong.

3. In the morning you realise that you’ve run out of coffee… and tea… and mineral water.

4. During your business presentation, your computer crashes.

5. You’re in your boss’ office speaking with him. Your boss is telling you that he can’t pay out any of your year-end bonuses.