CHICAGO, Ill. — Billy Joel once sang, “don’t go changing to try to please me,” and that he’d “take you just the way you are” in his hit song ‘Just the Way You Are’.
The song was released in 1977 and well, it appears things have drastically changed in the dating scene over the last 46 years.
In 2023, singles are now breaking up with prospective love interests over “icks”.
What is an”ick” you ask?
Simply put it’s a dating term for things you don’t like about the other person.
But these aren’t just any dislikes.
“Icks” are next level bad. They are deal breakers! Instant turn-offs! And they kill relationships!
“Icks” range from dirty fingernails to talking too loudly and having a bad tattoo to being rude to a waiter.
The upscale dating app Seeking recently conducted a poll on “icks” and since the new year marks a fresh start, we thought this ‘info’ would be good for singles to have as they look for love throughout 2023.
So here we go.
Researchers polled 2,000 adult daters about their “icks” and discovered 65% broke up with someone because of an “ick” and 88% have ghosted someone because of one.
Here’s a look at some of the “icks” from the poll results:
21% said living in a messy situation was their number one turnoff
21% said they hate bad manners the most
20% disliked a date with dirty fingernails
16% (of women) believe wearing a tacky watch is an “ick”
15% (of women) would call things off if someone referred to their favorite sports team as ‘We’, as if they’re part of the team
15% broke it off because they were obsessed with star signs
14% ended it because they clapped when a plane landed
14% (of men) would break things up if someone wanted to share food on the first date
And the no. 1 “ick” of daters, with 24% of the votes, is bad body odor or smelling bad!
79% of daters believe being a picky dater is a good thing and that it’s okay to end a relationship over an “ick” because they deserve the best.
According to Seeking’s experts “dating up” is the current trend in the dating scene, and that’s basically finding someone who can boost or “elevate” your present lifestyle.
They go on to say that singles shouldn’t settle for someone who doesn’t have the qualities they want and add that “only when you set your expectations high that you start to live the life of your dreams.”
Below are the top 40 “icks” according to the survey.
TOP 40 THINGS THAT GIVE ADULTS THE ‘ICK’
Smelling bad
Pretending to be more knowledgeable about something than they actually are
Being rude to a waiter
Living in a mess
Being overbearing and rude
Having dirty fingernails
Being too clingy
Having bad teeth
Double texting (sending a secondary text if you’ve not responded after the first one)
Talking too loudly
Chewing with their mouth open
Oversharing on social media
Having long fingernails
Referring to themselves in third person
Still living at home
Not wearing socks with shoes
Having shoes that are too dirty
Putting on a baby voice
Breathing heavily
Having a bad tattoo
Eating and talking at the same time
Being obsessed with their star signs
Wearing a tacky watch
Wearing shoes you don’t like
Wearing too much makeup
Wanting to share food on the first date
Not paying on the first date
Clapping when an airplane lands
Talking longer than you to get ready
Referring to their football team as ‘we’
Wearing bad jeans
Having an Instagram account for their pet
Saying pet names like ‘honey’ or ‘baby’
Using emojis in texts
Not being able to drive
Wearing a weird colored lipstick
Wearing sunglasses indoors
Having too many shirt buttons undone
Wearing creased clothes
Wearing socks to bed
Do you have an “ick”? If so, leave it for us in the comments.