Why I hate the phrase "It pisses me off....".

[poltr1]

I often hear people say "...It pisses me off...." when referring to something that's bothering them. The way I see it, it's not the object or stimulus that's *causing* the upset, it's the person's *reaction* to the stimulus. I know I have the choice to let something (or someone) bother me, or to not let that something (or someone) bother me. Even it's a split-second kneejerk reaction, it's still a choice.

Comments

[catalana.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'm not sure I agree. I think that I have a choice as to how I react to my annoyance, but I'm not sure that I always have the choice as to whether I'm annoyed. (So I can choose whether to dwell on being annoyed, how or whether to express being annoyed, etc. But I don't think I always have the choice as to whether something annoys (or hurts - there are lots of emotions that this is relevant to) me.)

One of the interesting things, though, is that you're focusing on the "it" part of the statement and I actually focus on the "me" part; to me "it pisses me off" is very much centered around the particular person having the reaction, not the object. Language is so fascinating.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, although I use the construction "X pisses me off" often enough, I'm more likely to use it about things that I don't like but that I remain relatively calm and in control about than I am about the things that put me in a state that could be described as "pissed off".

Unfortunately, it's much easier to recognize in the abstract that it's better to remain rational about things we don't like than it is to actually stay calm and collected about it in the immediacy of something going wrong.

[dragon-pet.livejournal.com]

You know "It pisses me off when..."

Okay.. audi shouldn't be allowed to post when sick. Bad jokes that may arise. But I see what your saying, though I am not sure if I agree.. I think sometimes we cannot help how we feel, just how we react to how we feel.