Noisy eating, clapping when a plane lands — experts explain how to handle sudden feelings of disgust.
He was charming. He spoke several languages. Things were going well until Ann Parker, a retired public relations consultant, noticed something strange about her date’s driving style.
“Every now and then, he’d release the steering wheel and quickly lick his hands,” she said.
The relationship did not last much longer.
Ms. Parker was experiencing the immediate turnoff known to daters as “the ick,” a sudden pang of aversion, usually prompted by someone’s behavior, appearance or personality trait.
Although the term isn’t new — by some estimates, it was first used in the 1990s on the series “Ally McBeal” — “the ick” often crops up in popular culture and gets frequent mention online. #Theick racked up nearly 225,000 TikTok posts in the past year, according to a representative for the company.
The term even prompted psychology researchers from Azusa Pacific University to do a study, published in May, which found that over a quarter of surveyed singles who had experienced “the ick” found it worrisome enough that they reported ending the relationship immediately.
“The Ick” may have a catchy name, but it captures something significant about the uncertainty of dating: the sneaking realization that a person might not be right for you.