Dating Diaries: The Eminent “Ick”

BREAKING NEWS: The college dating scene absolutely sucks.

I know I’m not the first, nor will I be the last to tell you this. However, you can’t blame me for sending out a warning either. As it stands right now, I want to be in a relationship but there are several things preventing that. These roadblocks consist of the following: I hate going through the “getting to know each other” process, I despise dating apps, and my personal favorite, the “icks.”

Let me break it down for you. Getting to know a new person, what their favorite color is, the way they take their coffee, and what they’re majoring in is perpetually boring. To be frank, I do not care whatsoever. I want to jump ahead to the important stuff and leave the awkward small talk on the doorstep. When it comes to dating apps, why are they even called that? In college most people want one thing, and that one thing only, to hookup. We are not in the era of our parents, most of whom had whirlwind college romances. In my opinion hookup culture is vile, and I’ll pass on a “Netflix & Chill” session with the community frat boy.

Now it’s time to discuss the foremost cause of my relationship obstructions, the “ick.” An “ick” is defined by Urban Dictionary as “Something someone does that is an instant turn-off to you, making you instantly hate the idea of being with them romantically.”

This is a very broad category, and the “icks” can consist of habits, clothing, hygiene and much more. Let me list some of my personal “icks” as an example:

• Being rude to waitstaff
• Wearing Axe body spray
• Wearing khaki shorts (especially cargo shorts, I’m cringing at the thought)
• The way men apply Chapstick

Now that you can picture my turn-offs, let’s talk about it. Firstly, if I see a man doing or wearing any of the above, I’ll instantly shudder in horror. It’s not that I despise men (my exes will confirm that is certainly not the case), the problem is it’s cringeworthy, abhorrent, and any other loathsome synonym. Whether some of these “icks” invoke secondhand embarrassment, or pure disgust, the result is synonymous: any romantic considerations I had have been completely scrapped.

Since I’m just one person, I naturally had to expand my “ick” database when writing this article. I begged the “What are your icks?” question to my fellow Her Campus writing teammates. Let me just say, I had no idea what kind of Pandora’s Box I was opening by asking, but I’m glad someone finally did. Now it’s time for their “icks” to step up to the plate.

Readers be warned: The following “icks” may cause nausea, fever, headache, and rash (from pure mortification)

• “Running after a ping pong ball” -Kelli Byrd
• “When they drink piss beer, or poor taste in alcohol in general” -Emily Counsil
• “Having to drive a guy anywhere is such an ick for me” -Megan Tucker
• “Their very existence is an ick” -Amy Qiang
• “When they’re attempting to rap and the aux cuts off” -Addison Haynes
• “When guys try to make a deal with you as if it benefits you in the slightest” -Lilly Capen
• “When they hit the button for a self-timer pic/TikTok and then run/waddle backwards to make it in the frame” -Samantha Davis
• “Has no knowledge of history or pop culture” -Sami Gotskind
• “When I say something, and he says ‘but not all men’” -Deema Al-Hihi

(Quick shoutout to all my lovely writing girls who helped me out when I needed to crowdsource my “ick” examples, love you all <3)

Even though these examples are only coming from the University of Kansas, the “ick” pandemic has apparently spread worldwide. A columnist from Glamour Magazine, Chloe Laws, writes about the “ick” from the publication’s UK office. Her piece is an interesting read, and she dives into the societal construction behind the coined term and did her fair share of research on what we derive from romantic uneasiness. (You can read her article here.)

So be wary, and be warned, these “icks” are not for the faint of heart. Like I said before, and you’ll certainly hear again, the college dating scene sucks. We all like to daydream about “Mr. Right” until we hear a man refer to his mother as “mommy.” We pray that our prince will sweep us off our feet, then a guy slaps his knee when laughing at a joke, which concurrently makes us nauseous. However, when you meet someone who makes all your “icks” seem like childish apprehensions, well, good luck Her Campus.  

• college dating
• dating
• relationships