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.

Recorded Terry Gross said elsewhere, not written here
The inability to stop talking about themselves when they’re not being interviewed.

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2012 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 197 →
Superiority. I shrink when I’m around people who act superior, whether it’s due to authority or intellect. I almost become mute.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 March 2026 source ↗
Lying. Let’s not call it “untruthful.” Or “factually inaccurate.” I don’t even call it bullshit, because I like bulls. And bulls need to shit. So you can’t hold that against them. Let’s call it what it is: lying.
Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2025 source ↗

More from Terry Gross

View profile →

More on values & belief

Also answered this · A–Z

Adam Kay, Adrian Dunbar, Ai Weiwei, Alan Arkin, Alex Hassell, Alex Lawther

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

Report this answer