Annoying or troubling someone; causing worry or inconvenience.
From Irish 'botha' or possibly a combination influenced by Cockney rhyming slang. The exact origin is debated, but it entered English usage in the late 1700s, originally meaning 'to puzzle' or 'confuse' before shifting to 'annoy.'
What 'bothers' us is deeply cultural—a noise level that bothers someone from a quiet rural area might not bother someone from Tokyo. This shows how our emotional responses to stimuli are trained by our environment, not hardwired, meaning you can actually retrain what bothers you!
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