pet

Fig. something that is disliked intensely and is a constant or repeated annoyance. My pet hate is being put on hold on the telephone. Another pet hate of mine is having to stand in line.

Fig. a frequent annoyance; one's "favorite" or most often encountered annoyance. My pet peeve is someone who always comes into the theater after the show has started. Drivers who don't signal are John's pet peeve.

the teacher's favorite student. (*Typically: be ~; become ~.) Sally is the teacher's pet. She always gets special treatment. The other students don't like the teacher's pet.

something that you do not like at all A pet hate of ours is telephone salesmen who phone just as we're sitting down to watch TV. Cleaning the bathroom is my pet peeve.

A particular or recurring source of irritation, as in My pet peeve is that neighbor's cat running through my herb garden. [Early 1900s]

A person who has gained favor with authority, as in Al has managed to be teacher's pet in any job he has held. This expression transfers the original sense of a teacher's favorite pupil to broader use. [1920s]

Someone who seeks preferential treatment. A derisive epithet hurled at a student who tries to curry a teacher's favor in hopes of a better grade. Such a charge, valid or not, often led to cloakroom or schoolyard challenges and bloody noses. Outside of school, it was applied to people who insinuated themselves to authority in the hope of special treatment. The French equivalent is “teacher's little cabbage.”