Next week is National Pet Peeve Week (who knew?) and when it comes to dating pet peeves, the list can be pretty lengthy. Match looked at their massive Singles In America survey to figure out just what gets on our nerves when we're first starting to date someone — and there are a whole lot of things that get on our nerves. Obviously it's partially down to personal preference, but I was surprised how much people were in agreement about which behaviors were just super annoying.
What I was most interested in was how we communicate — because it's amazing how much you can be turned off by someone over text message. Whether it's too many acronyms, spelling and grammar mistakes, or just using 10,000 exclamation points, I was shocked by how quickly I could get turned off by a text. Even if a person seemed cool and interesting, the way they communicate can turn me off as quickly as a tiger Tinder photo.
So, what are the pet peeves that we have when it comes down to texting, the communication of choice for Millennials and early daters everywhere? Here's the breakdown of the biggest text pet peeves for men and women, because they're not (exactly) the same:
For Men:
1. Having Too Many Misspellings And Incorrect Grammar
We all have look back at a message and cringe at a stupid mistake we made to someone we're trying to impress (like using the wrong "two" and feeling like an ass), but too many of these can add up. In fact, 36 percent of men said this was a texting turn off.
2. Responding With Very Short Answers
Apparently saying "OK" or "cool" is not OK or cool. Those annoyingly short responses bothered 33 percent of men. This is definitely one of mine, especially when you've asked a question or are trying to make plans. If they can't even be bothered to write a damn sentence then they're not worth it.
3. Using ALL CAPS
Thirty-percent of men DID NOT LIKE CAPS LOCK. Which is upsetting, because I really like caps lock. Ah, well.
For Women:
1. Having Too Many Misspellings And Incorrect Grammar
So this was the top pet peeve for women as well, but interestingly while only 36 percent of men said it, a whopping 54 percent of women — more than half— said they found it a turnoff. I guess women are just more into correct grammar than men.
2. Asking Too Many Personal Questions
This didn't make the top three for men, but over a third of women — 37 percent— said that too many personal questions is a turnoff. I can understand that, especially in early days when you're just trying to feel each other out a bit rather than exchange biographies.
3. Responding With Very Short Answers
It's not just men who hate the one syllable answers, this came in third (or really tied for second) with 37 percent of women naming it as a texting turnoff.
Moral of the story? Watch your spelling, don't ask too many questions, and for the love of god, just write a damn sentence. It's really not too much to ask.
Images: Fotolia; Giphy (6)
