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Home / Lifestyle

50 things we hate about modern life (+vote)

Independent
26 Feb, 2014 11:30 PM4 mins to read

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Selfies were voted one of the most annoying things about modern life. Photo / Thinkstock

Selfies were voted one of the most annoying things about modern life. Photo / Thinkstock

A new survey has revealed the most annoying things about modern life - here's your chance to vent.

Let's face it, life is annoying.

Queuing endlessly to use a self-service check-out, only to be denied your basic human right to a single, barcode-less banana. Squeezing past a gaggle of reality TV-obsessed teenage girls, endlessly snapping selfies on their camera phones at lunch. And logging onto the snail-slow internet, not only to find your Facebook feed littered with victims of the questionably coined 'frape', but that you've been trolled.

Living in the hyper-digitalised year of 2014, it seems, is about as irksome as it comes - especially if the results of this new survey are anything to go by.

We want to hear from you! We've tinkered with the Brit list and want you to rank your top four most annoying things. Have your say at the bottom of this story and we'll let you know what Kiwis hate most about modern life.

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A poll of 570 Brits were asked to come up with an ultimate top 50 list of things they hate about modern life. For the most part, the definitive countdown contains 'things', like sales calls (4), train fares (29) and spam emails(27). But there is one famous face deemed more punch-ably irritating than any other - Justin Bieber.

And, as the sole real person to appear in the entire list, it seems he's really earned his place (42) over the years. Deep agitation for the pop star started as soon as he did, with the release of his saccharine, pre-pubescent whine-a-thon Baby in 2010. The repugnance continued to swell throughout his early career as a floppy-haired pop brat with better SEO than Jesus, and boiled over in his late teens, after a string of ludicrous arrests, a ridiculous name change, and a particularly bothersome month-long domination of the newspaper headlines in January.

Bieber could also be held personally responsible for several of the most astringent items on the list. A shameless selfie (6) enthusiast, he is rarely seen without his camera phone (9), texting while walking(14), using poor grammar (15), and text speak (16) as he posts them up on Instagram, employing all the Americanisms (17) he can possibly muster.
Then there's his army of acerbic Twitter trolls (23) - the Beliebers - each one no doubt the possessor of a Justin Bieber mobile ring tone (3) and, you know, probably a bread maker (21) or something, too.

The only other celebrity links come in the form of the irrepressibly awful "Gangnam Style" dance (22), originally performed by Korean pop star Psy, and blandly copied by personality-less buffoons the entertainment industry over.

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Modern fascination with Z-list stars (26), premiereship footballers (20), celebrity fitness DVDs (32) and reality TV (5) also made the list compiled by FreeDeliveryLand.co.uk.

As did UKIP, the only political party to be branded a pain in the back side, who came in just behind Bieber (45).

Rank the top four things that annoy you about modern life

Want to raise your own blood pressure? Find out what made the Brit list below.

Top 50 Things We Hate About Modern Life

Discover more

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Most Kiwis content with life (+poll)

13 Aug 12:50 AM

1. Self Service Check-Outs
2. Styrofoam Cups
3. Mobile Phone Ring Tones
4. Sales Calls
5. Reality TV
6. Selfies
7. Slow Internet
8. Mobile Phone Battery Life
9. Cameras On Phones
10. Headphones Leaking Loud Music

11. Expensive holidays
12. Budget Airlines
13. Sat Navs
14. Texting While Walking
15. Poor Grammar/Spelling
16. Text Speak
17. Americanisms
18. Delivery Times Not Being Met
19. Coffee Machines
20. Premiership Footballer

21. Bread Makers
22. Gangnam Style
23. Twitter Trolls
24. Middle Lane Hoggers
25. Private Conversations On Mobiles In Public
26. Z-Listers
27. Spam Email
28. Junk Mail
29. Train Fares
30. Road Rage

31. Fad Diets
32. Celeb Fitness DVDs
33. Estate Agents
34. Being Put On Hold
35. Pot Holes
36. Autocorrect On Phone
37. Clothes On Pets
38. Excessive Plastic Surgery
39. Foreign Call Centres
40. Commuting In London

41. Traffic Wardens
42. Justin Bieber
43. Computer Viruses
44. Hackers
45. UKIP
46. Being Outbid On eBay
47. Seat Hoggers
48. 'Fraping'
49. Having To Pay For Cash At A Cash Machine
50. Cracked iPhone Screens.

- INDEPENDENT

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