What are your "Pet Peeve" questions?
#21
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 547
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The "Child friendly" or "Toddler Friendly" hotels, restaurants, or Venice with children, or CT with children, etc. get to me. I've never seen a hotel yell at anyone for bringing a child, and I've seen children in virtually every restaurant. Do they want a clown to come out and entertain? Do they want crayons and Kool Aid in every restaurant. I guess they think children in other countries NEVER go to a hotel or eat in a restaurant.
#29
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 74,699
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>Why the assumption that non-U.S. hotels are not clean?<
Because some, wherever they might be, are not.
Almost spent a night in a place in New Orleans, the mildew was so bad we had to leave.
Ditto for a place in London.
Because some, wherever they might be, are not.
Almost spent a night in a place in New Orleans, the mildew was so bad we had to leave.
Ditto for a place in London.
#30
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
Yes, I am new - thanks for the correction! Since I did not see visible signs of moderation (e.g., "this message has been deleted"
, I mistakenly assumed that the forum wasn't moderated. Guess I should read more carefully about what I sign up for ...
, I mistakenly assumed that the forum wasn't moderated. Guess I should read more carefully about what I sign up for ...
#31
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 570
Likes: 0
I'm not sure how long ago I discovered Fodors, but it's been several years. Don't know if I have a "pet peeve question" but I do get peeved with gramatical errors like "to for too" and with misspellings of common words. Guess that's my "teacher self-righteousness" emerging. I have become much more selective over the years about which questions I bother to fully read. I offer even fewer comments.
#34
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 9,922
Likes: 0
I try to contain my regrettable grumpy-old-man tendencies, not always successfully. On the Australia forum, where I mostly hang out, I sometimes whimper when I read posts from people who plan to "see Australia and New Zealand in 10 days", or wonder what clothing to bring, as though the entire country occupies just one climate zone. All too often the real problem is not restricted vacation time, which I understand and accept, but a profound ignorance and laziness that the poster thinks can be remedied by a few stray questions on Fodors. This is a really useful facility (thanks, Fodors) but no substitute for a good guide book and other sources.
Others stretch credulity - such as the poster who quailed at the thought of going anywhere without a big box of Cheerios to munch on between meals, and was alarmed to discover that they're unavailable in this part of the world. I was convinced that this one was a troll, and said so, then to my horror realised she was serious. (I may also have made some hurtful remarks about the size of aircraft seats.)
And yes, I often despair at the lousy English on forums whose users must be, in the main, middle-class and college-educated. And LoveItaly, I'm sorry to say that the problem isn't confined to the United States. Visual and aural media are producing a population of functional illiterates.
Politeness is a very fine quality, and we all sometimes access our inner idiot, but there's a time and place for everything.
Others stretch credulity - such as the poster who quailed at the thought of going anywhere without a big box of Cheerios to munch on between meals, and was alarmed to discover that they're unavailable in this part of the world. I was convinced that this one was a troll, and said so, then to my horror realised she was serious. (I may also have made some hurtful remarks about the size of aircraft seats.)
And yes, I often despair at the lousy English on forums whose users must be, in the main, middle-class and college-educated. And LoveItaly, I'm sorry to say that the problem isn't confined to the United States. Visual and aural media are producing a population of functional illiterates.
Politeness is a very fine quality, and we all sometimes access our inner idiot, but there's a time and place for everything.
#35
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 530
Likes: 0
Responses that don't answer the question are annoying, e.g., when a poster asks if there's a decent Paris hotel for under $100 and someone responds by touting the same 150 Euro hotel he pushes on every Paris thread. When we budget travelers ask for budget hotels, it's a pretty good bet we're not talking about $180 per night.
#37
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 83
Likes: 0
As a fodorite who reads a lot but (unfortunately) doesn't have the experience to answer a lot, I am consistently amazed by how polite most advisors are in response to such questions. AND I think some of the type of questions mentioned here get the MOST replies - they seem to start everyone bantering back and forth!
#38
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 559
Likes: 0
I hope I didn't sound like a grammar-holic or anything! Please note: I do not hold bad spelling against people.
Some of my best friends can't spell. I had an uncle once who couldn't spell. But <b>I'm</b> not a bad speller- not that there is anything wrong with that.
To quote a t-shirt of one of my former students-
"Bad Spellers of the World- Untie"
(Please tell me someone got the reference...)
Some of my best friends can't spell. I had an uncle once who couldn't spell. But <b>I'm</b> not a bad speller- not that there is anything wrong with that.

To quote a t-shirt of one of my former students-
"Bad Spellers of the World- Untie"
(Please tell me someone got the reference...)
#39
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,680
Likes: 0
Posters who leap in with un-asked for alternatives when someone has asked a specific question. I find that insulting to the original poster who, one would assume, has already researched the question.
And those tourists who don't want to see "touristy" areas, that one really drives me up the wall.
And those tourists who don't want to see "touristy" areas, that one really drives me up the wall.
#40
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 398
Likes: 0
My pet peeve question is, "Is air conditioning necessary in [location] in [month]?" I know that, when people ask this, what they really mean is, "Will I be uncomfortable if I stay in a hotel without air conditioning in [location] in [month]?" But even if the answer to the second question is "Yes", that doesn't mean that air conditioning is necessary; if it were, residents of [location] would all have died out many years ago, before air conditioning was invented.


yes when someone asks for example if four days in Rome is too long..etc. Capito!!
