I used to be bothered exactly this amount by the sound of a baby crying or a toddler whining. But then I read a lot of people's stories on the internet (blogs and forums) and I became more tolerant. It hardly bugs me at all now. Unless it goes on forever. Stuck on a train with a whiny toddler for 12 hours... Why would you take a kid that small on a train for 12 hours? You must have known he would whine, you're his parents! Argh. *puts pillow around head*

What really gets me is the scraping of cutlery on a plate. I've never been the perpetrator of violence towards anyone over aural unpleasantness but I've been on the receiving end of some, I snore a bit... worse when the hayfever is in full swing or any time during the winter so when occassionally I have to share accommodation I find that people throw things at me or i get a jab to make me stop.. which of course wakes me up.

I also have a friend that detests the sound of people eating or chewing so no food should be consumed in her presence.. this was forgotten when I bought a bag of munchos at the gas station and consumed them in the car on our nonstop trip from Palmy to Auckland.. I eventually noticed her twitching and stopped eating before she drove us into the path of oncoming traffic.

Karaoke "Big O - Crying" - that's ambitious. I once heard someone take on "Bohemiam Rhapsody". The memory still gives me chills.

I hate the sound of tyres skidding under hard braking. Even at a distance. When I hear that sound I get that coppery taste in my mouth waiting for the sound of an impact.

I hate it when I am at home watching TV late at night, or trying to sleep, and I can hear the bass from someones stereo. The thumping of bass through my house is guaranteed to give me a headache, as the more I try to ignore it, the more I hear it, and it just drives me mad.

Also, can't stand snorers, I like complete silence when I am sleeping. If my fiance is sick and knows he is going to snore, he sleeps in the spare room (or I do). It's just not worth feeling grumpy, tired, and mad all the next day due to lack of sleep.

Whistling. I cannot stand it, and I feel like a grumpy old cow cause generally people whistle when they are happy but it makes me want to go completely rip-off-their-head psycho.

Those parents weren't bothered one whit because they have developed "selective hearing". This is imperative when you become a parent - the man usually develops it first. Scenario: parents and baby sleeping. Baby starts fussing. Mum is knackered so pretends she hasn't heard baby. Dad feigns sleep. This continues for some time until baby is screaming at top pitch. Dad still feigns sleep. Mother resigns herself to martyrdom and finally gets up to feed baby.

Personally, I can't stand the sound of wool on teeth. Don't chew a jumper around me is all I can say.

Eating noises. My god - I can't bear them. I hate it when people chew with their mouth open, I hate it when they slurp food, I hatehatehate hearing any eating noises AT ALL. They drive me to rage. I actually asked a flatmate to move out primarily because she was the noisiest eater I've EVER heard.

Toddlers? Fine. Bagpipes? I like them. Lawnmowers at 7am on a Sunday? Not a problem. Someone eating a sandwich? Nggggggggggggg.

(It's okay if I'm also eating, so dinner with people is absolutely fine. Aforementioned ex-flatmate would have a snack of cheese and crackers every evening at about 9.30, and even if I left the room I could hear the crunching reverberating around the house.)

You know that noise people make, when they're about to talk - the horrid click noise when their lips separate? I LOATHE that noise.

Or the click noise when people think they're being cool. Like when they make a gun with their hand and click at you.

...actually, I think any and all click noises bother me. Clocks too. But yet, bones popping is perfectly fine?

My worst exam ever was when I was stuck at the front, and every 20 seconds the exam teacher would make that exact click; only, after clicking, he would also sigh. ...repeat. And repeat. I couldn't take it. On top of that, there was a ticking clock glaring at me. I was sure I was going to throw my desk over and rage like a wild animal.

Kids yelling/whining grinds my gears very reliably. Like many people who don't have kids, I can't figure out why they can't just be quiet and behave themselves like normal people. So far I have always been very good and have not actually asked some young mum if she would kindly put a cork in it, but I feel it's only a matter of time. Sooner or later it may happen when I've had a bad day with clients/insomnia attack. Ah well, que sera sera.

Certain types of music will also grate my nerves. Christmas songs usually will, but it's really about the intervals; thus I can't stand Toto or the Little River Band, nor can I tolerate the kinds of music you find in a typical modern church. Church music is easy to avoid because I don't go there anyway, but there's a fair amount of pop music that is irritating. We once had neighbours who blasted Frank Sinatra at unreasonable volumes every day during my summer holidays when I was attempting to sunbathe. My options, I decided, were either retaliating by dragging the speakers over to the door and blasting Marilyn Manson at an unreasonable volume, or a sly guerilla attack on the sterio with a hose. Moving the speakers seemed like too much effort.

Offensive sounds? Nothing really... until I heard what these guys are making: www.grindhouseaudio.com