An irking irony is that the smelt's biggest killer is the wastewater that Sacramento dumps into the delta.

WSJ: Allysia Finley: A Farmers' Rebellion Lifts the California GOP

When Wilson finally took the computer plunge, it used a proprietary set of search commands, irking multidatabase users.

FORBES: Mousetrapped

This last detail kept irking me, interrupting the romantic stirrings I felt as we talked the night away.

WSJ: Love and Barbecue

Their objections are irking Republicans as the calendar advances toward the 2012 elections.

FORBES: Democrats Block Usage of the Word 'Obamacare' in Congressional Mailings

Mr Obasanjo refused to sign it, for fear of stoking inflation and irking Nigeria's foreign creditors, whom he is trying to persuade to write off some of the country's debts.

ECONOMIST: The mysteries of Nigerian justice

This sort of thing is notorious for irking hardcore gamers, but according to the developer, no content will be locked for customers who choose not to pony up extra cash.

FORBES: Pay-to-Win Makes Its Way into Dead Space 3

While some other games have a habit of irking hardcore fans with microtransactions or content they feel should have been in the main game, Gearbox has done a fantastic job of releasing high-quality DLC on a regular schedule.

FORBES: Borderlands 2 Approaching 6 Million Copies Shipped

But the most irking thing imaginable is, as Meer points out, the purgatory that is the overflow server, where sad saps who no longer fit in their home servers are placed to adventure in a much more lonely space until a spot opens up and you can be whisked off to more crowded environs.

FORBES: The Colossal Folly Of The 'Guild Wars 2' Overflow [Update]