Alexander Armstrong: What is the trait you most deplore in others?

The question

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A verbatim standing question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A questionnaire, documented across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Alexander Armstrong

English actor, comedian, broadcaster and singer

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Bad manners, which extends from people dropping litter to people trawling the hell out of the oceans.

Rosanna Greenstreet, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2010 source ↗

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Paula Wilcox

Complaining about the weather, because there’s nothing you can do about it. There’s no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 June 2026 source ↗

Esther Freud

An inability to see the other side.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 July 2026 source ↗

Keith McNally

Using knowledge as a weapon.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2026 source ↗

Maya Jama British television and radio presenter

When people are disingenuous.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 June 2023 source ↗

More from Alexander Armstrong

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Question What has been your biggest disappointment? Failure & regret

To do more films. I’ve made a few but for some reason I haven’t been asked to do any lately.

Recorded Rob McGibbon, The Definite Article, Rob McGibbon, 29 December 2012 source ↗

Question What do you value most in your friends? Relationships

Make friends and do all you can to keep them. And try to be useful.

Recorded Rob McGibbon, The Definite Article, Rob McGibbon, 29 December 2012 source ↗

Question Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? Identity & self

I have a horrible capacity to be unctuous to people I want to impress.

Recorded Rosanna Greenstreet, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2010 source ↗

Question What does love feel like? Relationships

Entirely comfortable and warm – the edge of it can be white heat, but the best kind is room temperature.

Recorded Rosanna Greenstreet, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2010 source ↗

Question What single thing would improve the quality of your life? Daily life

I am going a bit deaf and I am hoping that technology is going to come on leaps and bounds and that one day I will hear better.

Recorded Rosanna Greenstreet, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2010 source ↗

Question What did you want to be when you were growing up? Identity & self

When I was little I wanted to be a conductor. I knew there was a man in a smart coat who waved his arms around at the opera and I thought: "There's the job for me."

Recorded Laura Potter, This much I know, The Guardian, 13 March 2010 source ↗

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