grind one's gears

English

Etymology

As an analogy to a state in a multispeed internal combustion engine in which improperly synchronized inputs and outputs in the transmission during a gear shift (as by driver error or a mechanical fault) lead to literal grinding of gears against each other as they're forced to mesh at different speeds from one another. The noise produced is harsh and grating, and damage to the transmission can accumulate with repeated occurences.

Pronunciation

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Verb

grind one's gears (third-person singular simple present grinds one's gears, present participle grinding one's gears, simple past and past participle ground one's gears)

  1. (informal) To annoy or irritate one.
    Synonyms: chap someone's hide, get someone's goat; see also Thesaurus:annoy
    It really grinds my gears when inconsiderate people litter.
    • 2017 July 17, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, “Is Love Racist? The TV show laying our biases bare”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      Yes it has a clickbaity title, and yes, this show will grind the gears of thousands – but it should. It will open everyone’s eyes to the segregated world of dating[.]
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