Information about Pet Peeves

A pet peeve (or pet hate) is a minor annoyance that can instill great frustration in an individual. It means capricious or silly.^[1]

The term originated from the word 'peeve.' A 'peeve,' meaning something that is particularly irritating or annoying, is a relatively recent word. Its first printed usage was in 1911. The term is a back formation from a 14th-century word: 'peevish,' meaning ornery or ill-tempered.

Pet peeves involve complaints about specific behaviors, rather than general complaining. It can involve a driver appealing for Christian charity or an editor asking for stronger law enforcement.^[2] Pet peeves often involve specific behaviors of someone close such as a spouse or significant other.^[2] These behaviors may include those of disrespect, those involving manners, personal hygiene, relationships, and family issues.^[2] An example of a pet peeve involving disrespect is someone not using their turn signal while driving; while some drivers feel frustrated when another driver does not use their turn signal, other drivers do not care very much, or consider something else, such as cellphone usage while driving more annoying. Many pet peeves associated with driving can result in road rage, where the person who feels peeved seeks some sort of retribution for the action.^[3] Road rage itself is considered a pet peeve by many. Obnoxious drivers who speed up to keep you from changing lanes (Gap Snatchers), or Distracted drivers talking on cell phones (Motor Mouths).^[4][5]

Often a pet peeve will seem illogical to others. For example, a supervisor may have a pet peeve about people leaving the lid on the copier up and react angrily, be annoyed when others interrupt when speaking, or by messy desks of their subordinates.^[6] That same supervisor may witness employees coming into work late, and not feel any annoyance whatsoever.

Peeve is also used in the books by Irvine Welsh as a slang word for Alcohol, namely beer.

References

External links

• Word Detective origins of Pet Peeve
• Take Our Word For It Issue 138
• Online Etymology Dictionary

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Pet Peeve

Author	Piers Anthony
Country	USA
Language	English
Genre(s)	Fantasy novel
Publisher	Tor Books
Publication date	2005
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	p. 34-37
ISBN	ISBN
Preceded by	Currant Events
Followed by	Stork Naked

For the minor annoyance, see Pet peeve.

Pet Peeve is the twenty-ninth book of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony.

Plot introduction

Plot summary

Goody Goblin, the only nice male goblin, goes to see the Good Magician Humphrey so he can get his question answered. As the magician charges a year's service or the equivalent, Goody has to find a good home for a pet peeve. The pet peeve is a very annoying bird who can mimic the voice of the person carrying it.

Goody starts out with the bird and Hannah Barbarian, whose service is to accompany the goblin on the quest and protect him. Throughout the journey, we discover that Goody is nice because he had to take reverse wood and disguise himself as a girl to avoid being captured by an invading goblin tribe. He was also married, but his wife is dead, due to the fact that she was fated to die young.

On the trip, Goody and Hannah meet various people. They all refuse to adopt the pet peeve, or in the case of Princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm, are not allowed to by their mother. Goody and Hannah travel to Robot World,. one of the moons of Princess Ida, and bring back some robots to live in Xanth. Unfortunately, the robots decide to take over Xanth, which means all of Xanth must join together to fight the menace.

Goblins, ogres, dragons, and other creatures come to combat the robots, which have been expanding, and the harpies feed the armies with lunch boxes from their lunch box plantation. Eventually the robots are defeated, In the process, Goody finally gets over his late wife's death and falls in love with Gwenny Goblin, the first female goblin chief. She in turn, falls in love with him, as her time spent with a family of winged centaurs cause her to like only polite goblins. The pet peeve finally gets a home with Grundy Golem, Rapunzel, and their daughter, Surprise Golem.

Characters in Pet Peeve

Goody Goblin Son of a goblin chief. Was turned into a nice goblin as a result of ingesting reverse wood as a child to avoid being captured. As his service for the Good Magician Humphrey, he has to find a good home for the pet peeve, a very annoying bird.

Hannah Barbarian A warrior woman who is to help Goody on his service.

Pet Peeve An annoying bird resembling a parrot. It can mimic the voice of the person carrying it, making others think the person is insulting them.

Gwenny Goblin First female goblin chief.

Grundy Golem A loud-mouthed golem that was animated by Humphrey and later given life by the Demon Xanth. He can communicate with all living things. He is married to Rapunzel and has a daughter named Surprise. He eventually adopts the Pet Peeve.

Good Magician Humphrey Magician of Information. He answers questions, but the asker has to pass three challenges to enter his castle and then do a year's service or the equivalent for the answer.

Wira Humphrey's daughter-in-law-, wife to his son Hugo, and is blind. Humphrey has a soft spot for her.

Princesses Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm The triplet daughters of Princess Ivy and Magician Grey Murphy. They are sorceresses. Melody hums, Harmony plays a harmonica, and Rhythm drums to make reality happen. If two of them play together their power is squared and all three together cubes their power.

various harpies, dragons, ogres, goblins, and other magical creatures

The Xanth Series by Piers Anthony
A Spell for Chameleon The Source of Magic Castle Roogna Centaur Aisle Ogre, Ogre Night Mare	Dragon on a Pedestal Golem in the Gears Vale of the Vole Heaven Cent Man from Mundania	Isle of View Question Quest The Color of Her Panties Demons Don't Dream Harpy Thyme Geis of the Gargoyle	Roc and a Hard Place Yon Ill Wind Faun & Games Zombie Lover Xone of Contention The Dastard	Swell Foop Up In A Heaval Cube Route Currant Events Pet Peeve Stork Naked Air Apparent
Characters
List of Xanth characters - The Magicians of Xanth - The family of Merlin of Xanth - The family of Ebnez of Xanth - The family of Humfrey of Xanth - The Centaur family of Xanth - The Goblin family of Xanth - From the Gourd of Xanth - Mundanes in Xanth - Other characters of Xanth
Geography of Xanth