7 Sounds That Make You Want to Gouge Your Eyes Out
1. Alarm Clock Going Off
Only one thing stands between you and that vital extra hour of sleep… and it sounds like Satan.
2. Nails Scraping Against a Chalkboard
Evil teachers have been making this horrible sound for eons. This is the most vintage of eye-gouge inducing sounds.
3. Vomiting
There is no sound more horrid than that of a humanoid losing their lunch. And much like yawning, vomiting can be contagious.
4. Dentist’s Drill
Photo by tuppus
No sound evokes more fear than that of the dentist’s drill quickly approaching your pearly whites.
5. Mosquito Buzzing in Your Ear
Fear the wrath of the vampire bug as it taunts your ear lobe.
6. Loud Feeback
Feedback from speakers or a microphone can sound absolutely atrocious.
7. Crying Babies
Photo by brkinhrt2
Babies are cute, but the sound of nine of them crying simultaneously will forever haunt your dreams. Proof.
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September 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 pm
OMG! You have caused me to simultaneously dread, cringe, curdle, flinch, itch, wince and heave an exasperated sigh. Just think how boring life would be without all these nasty contrasts to the good things in life. Could we even know happiness without experiencing the negatives too?
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 pm
If a toddler whines long enough, even a blind person would wish they had functioning eyes, just so they could gouge them out.
I’m sorry to the blind people, please don’t read that to them.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:58 pm
The alarm clock - my nemesis! Every day!
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 pm
The vomiting and loud feedback are at the top of my list! UGH!
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I don’t mind 1 and 6 too much, but the others are TERRIBLE!
It’s interesting - the universal human reaction to certain noises.
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 pm
There are no sound effects with this blog post, but the visuals themselves evoke pain in me!
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:28 am
Ouch. This was a very yucky post. 2 and 3 are the worst for me. It makes me feel sick.
ari
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:12 am
Hi Flying Llama Fish,
How do you come up with these brilliant ideas? And the picture? I love the teeth one. Although I can sleep through my alarm clock, I don’t think I could sleep through most of the others. Number 3 is currently turning my stomach! Yikes! Gotta go!
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:13 am
There is nothing quite like the sound of someone being sick to set off a chain reaction of gut churning proportions…
You know that feeling you get when your face contorts and you try to fight it off?
Well, in Scotland we call that the ‘dry boak’ (to rhyme with cloak) … as in “quit shoving that rotten fish in my face, it’s giving me the dry boak!”
(Heave)
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:29 am
Add to the list
* The sound of someone breathing into the phone on an extension in the same house (it doesn’t come through on the other end).
* The sound of loud breathing.
* The sound of others chewing crunchy food.
* The sound of the neighbor’s power yard tools at some ungodly hour before Sound of Satan kicks in.
* The sound of endlessly barking dogs.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:47 am
As I read down the list I cringed a little more. My wife hates the sound that a cotton ball makes, especially when it is torn apart. I don’t know why, I have never really noticed it, but then again that might have to do with my slight hearing loss. Does anyone else have awkward reactions to something like that?
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 am
These are definitely horrible sounds. Right now I can hear the sounds of construction from next door, and they’re building a new road here in Panama during the night, so it’s construction sounds almost around the clock.
September 3rd, 2008 at 11:15 am
Trapped in a tent with that one lone mosquito knowing it is going to land and suck your life’s blood, but having no idea where the nasty creature is. One of the reasons I refuse to go camping!
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Tabbie: I guess I have done my job then.
Writer Dad: Haha. I agree with you 100%.
Lance: The alarm clock is my nemesis too.
Linda: Vomiting is definitely at the top of my list.
Vered: I agree, the universal reaction to some of these is quite interesting.
Al at 7P: I hope you can avoid those horrible sounds in real life!
Ari Koinuma: 2 and 3 are pretty yucky for sure.
Barbara Swafford: Thanks! Once or twice a week, I notice that an index card has been slipped beneath my door. The index card has writing on it that tells me what to blog about. I don’t know who is responsible for it or why, but I don’t question it.
Scott McIntyre: I like that phrase. The sound of someone vomiting definitely gives me the dry boak!
Ritergal: Those are excellent additions!
Sal: I will have to analyze that sound. I have never noticed it either.
Marelisa: Construction sounds when you are trying to sleep are the worst!
Urban Panther: It’s a bad feeling to know that a vampire bug is lurking in the shadows, ready to strike at any given moment.
September 3rd, 2008 at 8:09 pm
I must say I too have a powerful aversion to the sound of a cottonball being torn in half, Sal. Just a big ew ew ew heebeejeebee.
September 4th, 2008 at 8:43 am
What a creative way to create a post. Everyone of these has a pressure point for me. I’m trying to learn to enjoy these sounds by letting go of my instant response and just letting the noise be noise and not attach any feelings to it.
September 4th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
I’m wondering if it is really possible to do as what Karl says. The sounds that you’ve posted here have me going “Yikes” and I’m not sure if I can catch myself quick enough not to have an immediate negative response.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Oh the barfing one definitely does it for me! Love that picture by the way.
I live in neighborhood that can be quite loud, so I also don’t like power tools going off during an otherwise restful Sat or Sun. Or tomorrow, now that I think of it because my husband has Fridays off so he will want to sleep in.
The scratching of nails against a chalkboard is a universal one, I think.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Anything involving styrofoam. Eww.
My boyfriend can’t stand it when I click my nails. One of my favorite ways to irritate him.
raquellabella.wordpress.com
September 5th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Oooh this is super funny and you are right with all of them. The dentist, the chalk board, crying baby. LOL
September 6th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Tabbie: I need to acquaint myself with the sound of a cotton ball being torn in half.
Karl Staib: Thanks! I wish you luck on your daunting task. I can’t imagine ever not minding the sound of vomiting.
Evelyn Lim: I know where you’re coming from.
Ellen Wilson: I hate when construction or a loud lawn mower is going off when I am trying to sleep!
raquel: I don’t like the sound of styrofoam being broken either.
Natural: Thank you!
September 8th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Can I add to that list Barney the purple dinosaur’s voice?
September 8th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Did anybody notice that except for the vomiting, all those are higher pitched sounds. I’m not sure what that means, though.
Vacationing in Belize, I walked by a parrot whose only sounds were the mimicked cries of a baby wailing like crazy. Be warned: do not buy a parrot until the kids are grown a bit more!
September 9th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Not to be too picky, but wouldn’t offensive sounds make you want to gouge your EARS out? Just sayin’…
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:00 am
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October 3rd, 2008 at 8:44 am
Excellent List!
Might I also add:
Yoko Ono.
(Seriously, go look up her singing on YouTube…if you DARE….)
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Alarm Clock: In terms of the alarm clock, I use my cell phone. I picked a very pleasant tone to wake myself up with. The alarm clocked pictured used to have my heart racing every morning!
Feedback: I have a co-worker that leaves his cell phone next to his land line speakerphone so every time his cell rings, we have to endure this unusually loud feedback that emanates from the speaker phone. HE doesn’t seem to mind! Uggh