In this mini episode, you will learn the common term “pet peeve.”
Episode 374 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the common term “pet peeve.” Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi, guys. This is Elieden Estevam from São Paulo, Brazil. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 374 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to teach you a common and useful expression. And the expression is pet peeve. Pet peeve.
That’s p-e-t, p-e-e-v-e. Pet peeve.
Let’s talk about the second part of this expression first. What does peeve mean? A peeve is something that is annoying. A peeve is an annoyance. Something that bothers you. Something that annoys you.
To be honest, I don’t think that you will hear the word peeve very often these days—except as part of this expression, pet peeve. I don’t think you will hear people talking about peeves or talking about their peeves. I think, really, you will only hear the word peeve as part of the expression pet peeve.
Now, before I tell you what pet peeve means, let’s look at that word pet. I’m sure you have seen the word pet before. Usually, when we use the word pet, we are talking about an animal—an animal who lives with you, an animal who lives as part of your family. You might have a pet dog, or a pet cat, or a pet goldfish, or a pet bird, or even a pet snake! Yes, some people have pet snakes.
The reason we call all of those things pets is because a pet is someone or something that is very special to you. A pet is somebody you like a lot, or somebody you love, or somebody who is very special or precious to you.
Maybe you have heard the expression teacher’s pet? The teacher’s pet is the student that the teacher likes the most. Maybe the teacher gives this one student some kind of special attention or special treatment. Maybe that’s not fair, but that’s what it means to be the teacher’s pet. It means to be the student who the teacher likes the most.
When we think about the word pet in this way, maybe the meaning of pet peeve becomes clear. Maybe. Maybe it does.
A pet peeve is kind of like your favorite annoying thing. It’s the thing that you find especially annoying. It’s the thing that annoys you so much that maybe you talk about it a lot. It is somehow special to you. Somehow, it is precious to you. It’s the thing that annoys you especially. It’s not something that everybody finds annoying. It’s something that you find annoying. Your pet peeve is your special annoying thing.
For instance, maybe somebody says, “My pet peeve is going to a restaurant and ordering the food and then finding out that the dish is too salty. That’s my pet peeve. That’s my special annoying thing. Oh, it just really makes me annoyed!”
Somebody else might say, “My pet peeve is seeing commercials before a movie at the movie theater. Oh, those make me so angry. I’m so annoyed when I see those commercials before the movie.”
Your pet peeve is the thing that bothers you the most, or one of the things that bothers you the most.
I think this is an interesting expression, and I think it is a common expression. You will often hear people refer to their pet peeves, those special things that really bother them a lot.
Outro
This is the end of episode 374 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Elieden Estevam recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!