Strange things that give you a kind of "ick" in everyday life

[CariahMary]

I don't mean getting the "ick" about a sexual or romantic partner. And I don't mean being put-off by things that are actually pretty grim. I mean random things that you inexplicably find a bit off-putting in everyday life.

For me, I get a kind of "ick" when I read other people talking about food on forums MN I honestly had no idea why. It's so odd, I really like reading food descriptions in books but in forums I find it really off-putting.

In the real-world, I also really hate opening other people's fridges. They always smell weird (different from my own). I have to hold my breath.

It's trypophobia, I think.

Slugs - oh yes!!!
Oddly don’t get the ick with snails (and have indeed eaten cooked snails many times - a regularly dish in my home country)
Often regret telling my exh about how much slugs give me the ick in case he kidnaps and tortures me with them one day (à la room 101… 😂😂😂)
Did feel vindicated about this ick when I read the awful story of a teenager who ate a slug for a bet, and ended up tetraplegic from the toxins…
I grow veg in my garden and paranoid about that …

Bare feet. I don't mind so much bare feet at home, or a baby who doesn't walk, but I just don't understand why an adult would go out without sandals/flip flops at the very least. A man was a regular in the shop i used to work in, he never had shoes on, even in the winter, his feet were filthy and i just thought it was disgusting.

Also certain words. Got this from my snobby Mum and am trying to lose it, have even started using some such words myself. There are too many to list but my Mum has this nasty habit of thinking that words people use or things people do that aren't like her are 'common' (which to her is huge insult). An example is lounge instead of living room or couch instead of sofa, cheers instead of thankyou etc. I have picked up saying lounge from my husband, Mum hates it but I still can't bring myself to say couch or cheers, there are so many more.

Photos of women where they're touching their hair or the side of their face with their hand, for no apparent reason. I know it's supposed to be an advertising trick, as according to "experts" women touch their hair more often when they're talking to an attractive man so doing it in a photo makes people buy more stuff, or something like that. I think it just makes otherwise attractive, intelligent looking women look like empty headed goons.

I never seem to see men doing this in photos - can you imagine a photo of Keir Starmer touching his face or hair? He'd just look like he was thinking
"Oh no, what did they tell me to say about this?"

Also the more delicate the touch the more likely it is that it will make me feel itchy, or like someone's messing with my hair.

Ah, but (re your second to last "ick") have you ever been up close to wind turbines? They're amazing!!!

@BauhausOfEliott No they can’t. You cannot stop someone from thinking “Eww” when they, eg, see a raw tomato or hear the word “poo” by pointing out that tomatoes are a healthy food that lots of people like, or explaining that poo is a useful word because it’s easily understood.

If an ick is irrational, then yes, anyone can say exactly what you just described.

Presumably you do understand that expressing a sense of revulsion for something isn’t equivalent to trying to say something shouldn’t exist?

Literally no one said that.

I’ve only got to your post so not read further but surely it’s Half Man Half Biscuit?! See also Thora hird, Peggy mount and John kettley.

I hate it when women use the phrase 'my kitchen' or 'my ironing', when they live with other people (i.e. husbands and children).

No. You can disagree with an ick, you can think it's unreasonable, but you can't deny that somebody has one.

I'm not denying that somebody has one. I am saying it's irrational for them to have it, and you literally just said "you can think it's unreasonable."

I think anyone should agree that feeling the "ick" when seeing a man buying toilet roll is a bit silly, as it seems to imply that pissing and shitting are feminine bodily functions only.

They can't control it, in the same way that some people have incurable phobias.

Most phobias are not incurable and can be treated.

I too hate the word hubby but I also detest the MN regular of DH, DS, DD. I would rather and always do type the full word husband. Not got a problem with fur-babies, i can't have kids so my cat is my baby.

When everyone waves at the end of a Teams meeting. Why?

The phrase sexual intercourse or intercourse. Granted probably only my mother who uses /used it but crikey she seemed to say it constantly when I was a child.

I have - quite a lot because we travel a fair bit in parts of the UK where there are lots of them. I do find them unnerving, but more in a good way, if that makes sense. Same with pylons.

But when I was a kid I grew up with a very wide view of the surrounding area which included a huge concrete water in the distance, and I was completely used to seeing it on the horizon for years, then one day when I was about 16 we visited someone who lived basically right next to it and it made me feel weirdly queasy. It just felt all wrong to be close to it!

Seeing pipes under water, as in dams or pipes you can see under river water or in the sea, it completely sends me into panic mode. So do oil rigs and similar constructions. Completely irrational on the surface...

Of course it’s irrational! We all know that. That’s literally what an ick is meant to be. You don’t need to tell people that, or explain why you think their ick is ‘wrong’.

You’re taking a lighthearted thread a billion times too seriously. Again.

People chewing gum, they remind me of cows chewing the cud.

People with dandruff. A guy I was dating sat on my couch and I could see where exactly he’d been sitting due to the flakes of dandruff left behind like a little outline.

People who sigh loudly after taking a sip of a drink.

Ooh another one, people who make appreciative noises when eating food that resemble sex noises. My sister does this and also closes her eyes, murmuring “mmmmmmm” and it makes my toes curl in revulsion.

When people call their husband ‘the hubby’ and when someone writes ‘lol’ after something that isn’t even meant to be funny, as it’s it’s just the way they end a sentence. And when people say ‘guttered’ instead of gutted. 🤢

Men (usually not Brits) with one very long little finger nail, apparently used for picking either nose or ears. 🤢

Oh that's so gross. Cocaine fingernail. That said, men with long fingernails make me dry heave. Bleugh. Also long fake nails on women. Tacky and vulgar and vomit inducing.

@BauhausOfEliott Of course it’s irrational! We all know that. That’s literally what an ick is meant to be. You don’t need to tell people that, or explain why you think their ick is ‘wrong’.

I can.

You’re taking a lighthearted thread a billion times too seriously. Again.

I'm fairly certain that if I made a thread saying that it's disgusting to see women buying toilet roll, I would be on the receiving end of some extremely aggressive responses.

Oh, yes to very long fake women’s nails, too. Horrible!

Totally agree about Aled Jones. I cannot listen to his voice. Have also heard some less than complimentary things about him….

People saying
’appreciate’ and ‘negotiate’ with an ‘ss’ sound in the middle instead of a ‘sh’ sound

Men on Mumsnet

Adults who don't drive, for no reason other than they just don't want to.

Bruno Mars and his entire song collection

Women driving massive 4x4s on the school run

Teams calls of less than 5 people where it's easy to join in and get your voice heard but someone will still put "their hand up" and wait for someone to prompt them to speak.