Why cell phone talkers are annoys-makers

Unpredictable “halfalogues” distract those trying to do other things

They’re everywhere — yammering on the subway, yukking it up on sidewalks, yakking away in restaurants. It’s the invasion of the cell phone slinging, super-annoying attention snatchers!

Cell phone users irritate so mightily because their background chatter forcibly yanks listeners’ attention away from whatever they’re doing, says psychology graduate student Lauren Emberson of Cornell University.