Past continuous for frequently repeated actions in the past

With time expressions such as always, constantly, continually and all the time, the past continuous can express frequently repeated past actions which annoy(ed) the speaker:

She was always teasing me.
They were constantly arguing about money.
He was continually interrupting the speaker.
I was getting into trouble all the time.
He was always calling me at night to ask me how I was.

These sentences imply that the actions happened very often, but they are not meant literally. To express the literal meaning, the past simple is used:

He always called me at night to ask me how I was. (He called me every night to ask me how I was.)