Dog poo dumpers and phone addicts are the UK’s biggest pet peeves in 2024

Everyone has a pet peeve or something that annoys them about someone they know, or just a daily activity that gets on their nerves, but what are the worst among Brits in 2024?

To find out the biggest grudges, greetings card marketplace, thortful, conducted a study1 to find out the most popular inner thoughts and annoyances in the UK.

From having loud phone calls on the train, to people having dog Instagram accounts, those who have ‘princess of board’ stickers on their cars, to people who simply can’t operate without a coffee, the nation has picked its biggest grievances.

As thortful’s research also unveiled that almost half (43%) would love to call someone out on a pet peeve every single day but don’t, they’ve created a range of hilarious cards that include the frustrating activities ranked below:

Rank	Inner Thoughts / Pet Peeves	Percentage
1	Not cleaning up their dog's poo	61%
2	People looking at their phone when I'm talking to them	37%
3	People who talk during a film	35%
4	People who take up the whole path instead of going single file	33%
5	People who put their bag on the seat next to them on a packed commuter train	33%
6	When people take a phone call on the train	26%
7	When people leave breadcrumbs in the butter	25%
8	E-scooters	22%
9	Being bad at replying	18%
10	Those little yellow plastic tie wrap things you get on bread to keep it fresh	18%
11	'Princess on board' sticker on your car	18%
12	Microwaving fish in the office	18%
13	People who have dog Instagram accounts	15%
14	People who say they can't operate without coffee	13%
15	When someone talks about a film and you say you haven't seen it and they freak out like 'omg HOW HAVE YOU NOT SEEN IT'	12%
16	People who say they have a bubbly personality	11%
17	People who soak their dishes rather than washing	10%
18	Not re-racking at the gym	8%

With a landslide 61%, the UK’s biggest pet peeve is when they see a dog owner not clean up their dog’s poo. This is followed by the workings of a phone addicted nation, for the people who stare at their screens whilst having a face to face conversation (37%).

People talking in the wrong situation is a bugbear to many. In fact, talking during a film received more than a third (35%) of the votes, whilst more than a quarter (26%) can’t stand those that have loud conversations on the train.

Other irritations include pavement hoggers, with a third (33%) frustrated at those who take up the whole path instead of going single file. Busy commuters also find it annoying when they see bags taking up seats on hectic morning train journeys (33%).

E-scooters in general are getting a bad rap with 22% voting them as their biggest pet peeve, whilst leaving breadcrumbs in the butter (25%), being bad at replying (18%), and ‘Princess on Board’ car stickers (18%) also hold a grudge for many.

When people can’t fathom that their friends or family haven’t seen a certain film, 12% can’t stand the surprised reaction as if they have meant to have seen every film that has every existed.

A spokesperson for thortful adds “There are so many circumstances that cause funny annoyances on a daily basis, and we want to create the opportunity for people to highlight them, so the nation can let out their inner thoughts on cards. A small tip from us would be to please clean up your dog’s poo!”