ときたら

1. 1Raises a person, often someone close to the speaker, as the topic in order to criticize or complain about them with exasperation.Ex. 1
2. 2Introduces a familiar, everyday thing or situation the speaker finds annoying, followed by a complaint about it.Ex. 2
3. 3Less commonly, spotlights a topic to deliver an emphatic, almost exaggerated compliment about it.Ex. 3

Used mainly in conversation to vent about people or things close to the speaker, such as family members, colleagues, or the weather. The following clause usually carries a negative, emotional evaluation, though it can occasionally be strong admiration. Compared with the more written に至っては, which singles out the most extreme case in a series, ときたら simply spotlights one topic for an emotional comment.

• 1.
  ときているN1ときている attaches to verbs, adjectives, or nouns, sits in the predicate to highlight a standout feature, serves as a reason leading to an inevitable result, or pairs with おまけに to stack up features, while ときたら attaches only to nouns to raise a topic. The two are not interchangeable.
• 2.
  に至ってはN1に至っては first states the general situation of a category and then cites its most extreme case, usually with negative judgment; it is relatively objective and belongs to written style, whereas ときたら can raise a topic on its own, is more emotional, and leans colloquial. They are generally not interchangeable.
• 3.
  なんか / なんてN3Attached to nouns, なんか／なんて can also carry disdain or self-deprecation, but it serves to give examples or present an item, not to raise a topic and then pass emotional judgment on it; it can also attach to whole sentences to express surprise, while ときたら attaches only to nouns. They are generally not interchangeable.
• 4.
  くせにN3くせに is adversative—'even though... yet...'—criticizing words or behavior that don't match one's status or circumstances, and it attaches to verbs, adjectives, or noun＋の. ときたら attaches only to nouns to raise a topic, carries no adversative sense, and can even express admiration, so the two are not interchangeable.
• 5.
  に限ってN2に限って's displeasure centers on something going wrong 'of all times'; it also has a trust sense of 'would never...' and a plain restrictive sense, with a neutral register. うちの子に限って expresses trust, while うちの子ときたら expresses complaint; they are not interchangeable.

ときたら brings up a familiar person or thing and comments on it emotionally, mainly to complain about them. The look-alikes differ: ときている stresses the special case just mentioned and often serves as the reason for the following judgment, に至っては picks out the most extreme example of its kind, なんか／なんて has broader uses—examples, humility, disdain, or surprise—without specifically expressing strong emotion, くせに criticizes words or behavior that don't match one's standing or the facts, and に限って signals that something unpleasant happens at just the wrong time or to just the wrong person.