1) each player writes down on a strip of paper a thing that really annoys them about another person who is also playing the game.

2) players can write down as many different things as they like, but each one must be on a different piece of paper, and they must do at least one for each person present.

3) all the bits of paper are collected and put in a hat/bag

4) the bag is passed to the oldest person present (this can cause a few arguments to start with !) who then takes a piece of paper from the bag and reads it out to the group

5) all the players (including the reader) then have to wiret down who they think wrote it (the writer) and who they were talking about (the target).

6) once everyone has written down their answers players take it in turns to say what they have written.

7) finally the writer owns up and says who teh target was.

8.5) you may wish to offer a 'right of reply' to the target. or you may just want to let the pain fester.

8) scores are assigned to players as below and play moves to the next player in a clockwise direction.

9) play continues until no one is able to play or all the pieces of paper have been used up.

10) the player with the highest score is the winner

Scoring:

i) Plus one point for guessing the correct writer of the annoyance

ii) Plus one point for guessing the correct target of the annoyance

iii) Plus one point if you are the writer of the annoyance (to encourage people to write more annoyances). this rises to 5 points if your annoyance makes the target cry.

iv) Minus 10 points if you are the writer and your annoyance isn't a negative thing (eg you can't write 'this person is just too nice')

v) Minus 5 points to anyone who swears or shouts.

vi) A player loses all their points (and their right to reply) if they leave the game part way through.

Typical Annoyances:
specifics:
* never does the washing up
* never makes a cup of tea

non-specifics:
* is miserable
* simply horrible

Have a go over the next few days and let me know how you get on.

JUST TO BE CLEAR: this is meant to be a comedy item and not to be taken seriously. if you do try this at home, please don't implicate me in any domestic violence or divorce proceedings which may result !