annoy / bother

[vil]

Dear teachers,

I know that to bother and to annoy are synonyms.

annoy = aggravate, anger, bother, displease, disturb, exasperate, harass, harm, irk, irritate, madden, molest, pester, plague, provoke, rile, ruffle, tease, trouble, vex.

Today before noon, I ran into a sentence that bewildered me. Here it is:

Don’t bother me with your foolish questions, or I shall be annoyed.

There are used both synonyms bother and annoy in the immediate vicinity, thick and fast.

Would you be kind enough explain to me the difference between the mentioned above verbs? For your information, in accordance with my Dictionary the verbs in question above are interchangeable.

I think that to bother as contrasted with to annoy refers to the act of interrupting or disturbing someone, of preventing him from continuing to do what he is doing; whereas to annoy refers to the feeling caused in the person by such (continued, repeated) interruptions. Bother sometimes implies bewilderment or worry and axiety, e.g.

The variety of responsibilities Figaro had would have bothered anybody but him.
That doesn’t bother me, it’s quite simple.
“I hope the child isn’t bothered you too much”the mother said to her neighbour.

To annoy stresses loss of calm or patience. It seldom implies more than a temporally disturbance or display of nerves. e.g.

Everybody was annoyed as, though everything was ready for the start, comrade Leonov was late as usual and kept us waiting.
What annoyed him most was that he had received no apology.
It really annoys me when I see people dropping litter.
She annoyed him with her stupid questions.

Thank you in advance for your efforts.

Regards.

V.

[venkatasu]

both are same

(Not an English teacher)

[vil]

Hi venkatasu,

Thank you for your promt reply as well as for your kindness.

The following examples should to instigate you to be more voluble. I declare with certainty I am able to grasp the meaning of your eloquent and most likely convinsing explanation.

bother = to disturb or anger, especially by minor irritations; annoy.

Does it bother you?

cannot be bothered keine Lust haben, sich nicht damit abgeben können
trouble = bother = disturb = inconvenience = worry = make s’o feel nervous
Don’t bother! = Don’t worry! = Never mind!

bother = give o’s trouble to = take pains to = go to the trouble of
I can’t be bothered = take it easy = spare o’s exersion

alarm = worry = trouble = bother = make uneasy = disturb = harass

Don’t worry! Keep calm!
Don’t bother about these trifles!
Don’t bother about that!
She didn’t bother me with the details.
Don’t bother me with foolish questions!
It bothered me to learn that she had not been promoted.
He bothers me to death.
A point, which has bothered us.
She bothers too much about everything.
He can’t be bothered.
His stomach has been bothering him.
Don’t bother to getting up.
He didn’t bother to shave.

Don’t bother to lock the door!
He didn’t bother to be polite.
She didn’t bother herself to lower her voice.

annoy = to bother or disturb, to cause slight irritation to (another) by troublesome, often repeated acts.
Archaic. To harass or disturb by repeated attacks.
irritate = chafe = annoy = vex = peeve = needle

It annoyed me to be kept waiting so long.
It annoyed us that they took so long to answer.
We were annoyed at losing the order.
He was annoyed with the children.
He was annoyed to find his door unlocked.
She was annoyed that the library was still closed.
It is annoying to read nothing but bad news.
It’s annoying that there is no hot water.

Annoy refers to mild disturbance caused by an act that tries one's patience: The sound of the printer annoyed me. rritate is somewhat stronger: I was irritated by their constant interruptions. Bother implies imposition: In the end, his complaining just bothered the supervisor. Irk connotes a wearisome quality: The city council's inactivity irked the community. Vex applies to an act capable of arousing anger or perplexity: Hecklers in the crowd vexed the speaker. Provoke implies strong and often deliberate incitement to anger: His behavior provoked me to reprimand the whole team. Aggravate is a less formal equivalent: “Threats only served to aggravate people in such cases”

To annoy somebody to death.
He annoyed me by playing finger practice.
He was felt annoyed with bad wether.
He was felt annoyed ith silly question.
I felt annoyed when he refused to help my boy.
I felt annoyed with her because she has not done it in time.

Regards.

V.