Weird quirks you have?

[CrimsonBlaze]

If I hear some kind of unfamiliar sound and I do not know what it is or where it is coming from, it can very easily drive me insane.

The other day, I was doing some work on my laptop, when this loud humming sound came out of nowhere. At first, I believed that it was the laptop itself, or possibly the speakers, as I had been working for a few hours. I tried to adjust the volume and even mute all sounds, but I could still hear the humming. It was beginning to be unbearable, so I decided to turn off the laptop and just cool off for a few minutes.

Once the laptop was off, the humming still persisted. I was starting to get angry, so I went out of my room to determine the source of the sound. I thought it was a great deal of things (out plumbing, the toilet, other appliances, etc.) until I went into the living room, which is not far from my room, with my hands covering my ears. There I found the source: my father was watching some old TV program on our HDTV and because of the low-production values of the show, there was some additional background noise that produced the humming from the speakers.

I immediately put the volume down (which was absurdly high for some reason), which annoyed my father. I explained about the humming sound that I could hear and asked that he keep the volume to a decent level. I went back to my room and I could no longer hear the humming. However, as soon as I was about to turn on my laptop, I could hear the humming once more.

I had to sit in the corner of my room, where I could not hear the humming until my father became bored with the program about an hour later and changed it.

 

[Angie7F]

I wonder if it isn't just a characteristic of the language. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't do that. Even my old Japanese bosses, they usually sound friendly if soft-spoken when they speak English but when I hear them speak Japanese on the phone they sound positively sniveling. I'm not bilingual and I do the same thing, though in my case I think part of the problem is that I've never been in a language program that ever taught me how to effectively complain or negotiate with an unwilling party in Japanese. The dialogues we are asked to practice always assume that when we have a problem whoever we speak to will immediately give us what we want. In the real world, that doesn't happen, and I often feel I don't have the tools to assert myself effectively in Japanese.

Actually, what I said is the opposite. But maybe I am reading your post wrong...

I am more blunt/ confrontational in English, but soft spoken and use more cushioning in Japanese.

I think it has to do with the culture behind it, where Japanese has a lot of ambiguous words and various levels of polite talking, where as in English there may be a more politer way of saying things (Give me that VS May I have that) but doesnt really require as much structural politeness like Japanese ( yoroshiku onegaishimasu, osewani natte orimasu, oisogashi naka kyoushuku desuga etc accompanied with many bowing even if I am on the phone.)

I do a lot of translation work between English and Japanese, but when I translate Japanese into English, more than 30% of the text gets deleted during translation because we just don't say certain formality sentences like they do in Japanese.

I think the example you gave of your Japanese bosses being more soft spoken in English but sniveling in Japanese lies more on them feeling comfortable in Japanese which is their native language, where as when speaking English they feel more shy about their language abilities.
(Which I think is quite stupid because most Japanese are actually really good in "understanding" English, just too shy to speak it)

 

[C4tt4nn4]

I pretty much always use the fork on my right hand and the knife on the left hand. In another word, I used my knife and fork the oppersite way. I think the reason for this is that I used my chopstick with my right hand so I view that hand as the dominante hand to use when eating.

i wouldn't imagine doing it any other way, although i dont know why. I dont use chopsticks, and my parents use forks and knives "properly". Then again, I always thought the whole "switch utensils around for cutting then around again for eating" thing seems like a waste of energy.

on a completely separate note, I race my cat down the stairs (fuzzy jerk cheats...).

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

How about some Venetian Snares then:


Top that (Hard Mode: No Noise/Drone Music or music made to sound bad on purpose)

Have to admit, I spent like an hour searching through abrasive, shitty music and I couldn't find anything to top that.
A few of Venetian Snares' tracks are pretty good though. Seem like they'd give you a heart attack if you listened to them for too long, but I can appreciate the musicality.

 

[Tahaneira]

Well, lessee...

I have a tendency to use noise to express myself. I love to look up obscure words, so I can usually find something to express myself at any given time. In times of frustration, surprise, or stress, however, I will usually just start making random sounds. My friends all insist that I could sell them to special effects companies and become rich.

What else? If I am truly and utterly bored, or just spacing out, or if I'm just in a weird mood, I will start performing random physical actions; walk sideways across a room, see how far I can bend over on one leg before falling over, sit on chairs upside-down, etc. Never anything that could hurt me (much) but still. I have no idea where they come from, either. I'll just start doing something and carry on until it becomes uncomfortable or something else catches my attention.

And more of a physical quirk than anything else, but I can easily withstand cold temperatures. I can not stand wind.

 

[Mocmocman]

not sure if this counts as a quirk, but it's a phobia i have that i've never heard/seen anyone else have before, i HATE soft things, like with a blinding passion, such as soft velvet, it drives my skin up the fucking wall, i always end up going and washing my hands as soon as i can because it drives me that insane to touch it, i can't explain why, but i fucking hate it.

A guy at my school had the same thing, he would use a sheet of paper to handle anything velvet-y. He said the same thing, it dries his skin.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

not sure if this counts as a quirk, but it's a phobia i have that i've never heard/seen anyone else have before, i HATE soft things, like with a blinding passion, such as soft velvet, it drives my skin up the fucking wall, i always end up going and washing my hands as soon as i can because it drives me that insane to touch it, i can't explain why, but i fucking hate it.

A guy at my school had the same thing, he would use a sheet of paper to handle anything velvet-y. He said the same thing, it dries his skin.

someone else with it exists! finally!

it drives me insane, i spent 20 minutes finding gloves in the garage to put these stupid pillow covers on, because they were made of super saiyan velvet, i felt like biting my fingers off after touching it for the first time. (we were having formal company over at the time, so the rents wanted the house to be in "pristine" shape)

 

[xplosive59]

How about some Venetian Snares then:


Top that (Hard Mode: No Noise/Drone Music or music made to sound bad on purpose)

Have to admit, I spent like an hour searching through abrasive, shitty music and I couldn't find anything to top that.
A few of Venetian Snares' tracks are pretty good though. Seem like they'd give you a heart attack if you listened to them for too long, but I can appreciate the musicality.

It doesn't get more extreme than that, I think Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed is the only thing that can top Venetian Snares, 1 hour of ear peircing amp feedback and nothing else.

 

[floppylobster]

I write all my numbers 'backward' - so for example I start the 8 at the bottom where most people start at the top.