A NATIONWIDE office survey has revealed what makes UK workers tick and what ticks them off.

If you’ve found yourself arguing over the air conditioning or complaining about the state of the office kitchen, you’re not alone.

The study from Vanquis has found poor food hygiene and cleanliness are the nation’s biggest grievances, with 85% of UK office workers getting annoyed by colleagues leaving old food to turn rotten.

The biggest office gripes include:

1. Leaving rotten food in the fridge or kitchen – 85%

2. Leaving a mess in the kitchen, bathroom or other communal areas – 83%

3. Using discriminatory or rude language (i.e. swearing, racism, sexism) – 81%

4. Leaving passive-aggressive notes in a communal area – 74%

5. Playing loud music on their work computer – 74%

6. Changing the settings on the heating/air con - 67%

7. Cooking smelly food in the office kitchen – 66%

8. Someone getting promoted over them – 61%

The survey also revealed the nation’s most hated buzzwords.

Those odd little words and phrases that are completely meaningless but seem to get sent around in offices across the country.

“Touch base” came out on top, with 23% of Brits saying they hated this phrase:

The study also looked into what Brits are doing to deal with annoying colleagues, with 40% saying they’ve had a verbal confrontation with someone at work, while 32% have complained to their boss about a colleague.

Here are the top things Brits are doing to annoying colleagues:

1. Verbal confrontation – 40%

2. Complaining to their boss – 32%

3. Badmouthing someone and their work to other colleagues behind their back – 27%

4. Complaining to HR – 21%

5. Trying to embarrass them in meetings in front of colleagues or clients – 14%