9 Subtle Signs You Annoy Someone

Nonverbal language is deeply engrained in people from a young age, and tends to come out in people when they are under stress. Crossed legs or crossed arms can sometimes signals resistance, which is a subtle sign of annoyance, rather than the more blatant eye roll.

Solution: Reading body language is such a subtle art that it has to be taken with a grain of salt. Before before making any serious changes to your social situation, either wait for more cues you're being annoying, or politely ask if something you're doing is irritating someone. Blogger Jen Kim told Psychology Today that a polite way to ask if you're being annoying is to be straight up. She suggested a simple, “I'm being annoying right now, right?”

Post-grad doctoral researcher Jordan Gaines Lewis, and author of the blog Brain Babble on Psychology Today wrote that sighing is a subtle sign of annoyance. People sigh when they're bored, frustrated, anxious, or trying to calm themselves down. This is especially true in a social situation.

Solution: Sighing is also just a sign of the body needing to reset. So, before you get totally self-conscious that you're annoying, wait for more cues, or simpky ask politely if you’re bothersome.

Being interrupted is offensive. No two ways about that one. However, after you've processed the feeling that someone was just rude to you, pause and think about your own behavior.

Solution: If someone interrupts you, ask politely if you can finish what you were saying. If you're being annoying, most likely your company will tell you so at this point, and you can decide where to go from there.

People can pretend not to hear you when they're annoyed at you in one of two ways. They can completely act like you haven't said a word (ouch) or they can “huh” you, an expression usually coupled with a tilt of the head and massive amounts of sarcasm.

Solution: Take the time to pause the conversation if you feel like you're the only one talking, or have been for quite some time. An easy solution to this problem is to talk less, listen more. Listening more is a simple way to be less annoying in a friendship.

If someone appears to be zoned out while you're speaking, that other person might be exhausted and out of it, or, it's a subtle sign that you're annoying, Kim wrote in Psychology Today.

Solution: Fidgeting, having their feet pointed towards the door, and a not-so-subtle "back turned" away from you maneuver are all good signs that someone is annoyed by you or feeling uncomfortable in a conversation. If you notice this, I'd just change the subject and make a mental note to give that friendship a little extra attention.

Licensed clinical social worker Diane Barth told Psychology Today that the best kind of communication involves a give and take between talking and listening. People might talk over you when you're being annoying to shut you up.

Solution: Although you might be annoying, a person who talks over you is rude. In this case, once you identify what's going own, Barth recommended that you take some time out to have a conversation about how to reset your conversational dynamic.

When other people in the group lock eyes, that's a subtle sign you're being annoying, and your peers are trying to communicate with one another and bond over this fact. Ouch.

Solution: Psychologist Dr. Jamie Turndorf told Psychology Today that ganging up on someone is a form of bullying. If you're feeling ganged up on, don't play victim, she advised. Although you might feel hurt when your friends lock eyes, you should assert yourself and voice your discomfort at their behavior.

If your friends don't ask you anything personal about yourself, this might be a subtle sign that they don't want to get to know you better. Maybe your friends stink, or maybe you're annoying because you talk about yourself all the time, and don't leave any room for people to ask questions.

Solution: Time for some soul-searching. If the people you’re spending time with don’t want to know you, perhaps it’s time to look for some new friends.

There's a big difference with “Yass” and the constant “Yes.” Respectively, there's a difference between people trying to please you with a constant, "yes," and people "yes-sing" you to, well, er, get you to stop talking.

Solution: Once you figure out if people are doing the latter, reflect on your behavior. Although Psych Central noted that you can't spend your entire social life wondering if you're being annoying, you do want to engage your company in a way that's pleasant for all involved.