Particle physics is the lamest field of physics ever.

I personally believe it is also the primary contributing factor to the stigma that scientists (but especially physicists) are unapproachable and that the subjects they study are hopelessly confusing for any outsider. In Physics for Poets Robert March writes:

To emphasize the uniqueness of these [sub-atomic] particles, [Murray] Gell-Mann chose the fanciful name quarks. This peculiar choice of terminology proved to be fateful. Following Gell-Mann's lead, particle theorists have tended to play a game of "one-upmanship" with terminology, resulting in a lexicon of "cute" names that tend to baffle (and sometimes outrage) nonspecialists. This practice has often proved a barrier to wider understanding, however much fun it may provide for insiders. Thus one of the more confusing and annoying tasks you will face in the rest of this chapter will be to wade through a lot of verbiage that is far from self-explanatory.