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.

Or “yorkie puds” on a Sunday roast

Come over for a drink and some nibbles.

NIBBLES !

With some bubbles 😬

Also, people (almost exclusively women of a certain age) who, when offered a dessert or a second helping, go all "Oh, I really shouldn't, it's so naughty", and titter nervously.

Love, it's 2026, no one's going to judge you except your own internalised misogyny. Eat the cake and fuck the patriarchy.

Yes the machines seem to be set up to do that. Evil programmers - they have to go to the bank anyway so does it matter if they take coppers?

On "mediaspeak bandwagons" there's a new one this year (or I've only noticed it this year). You don't go shopping for something or buy something anymore, you just shop something.

No, if I go to buy an item of clothing, I buy a skirt. I don't shop a skirt.

I really don't like it when journalists leap on these things and push them and push them. It's like "gifting". We used to manage perfectly well with "giving".

I hate it when people say "I'll have a cheeky wine". Why is it cheeky?

Also "bad boys" (the context I am thinking of is a running group where people (women) buy new trainers and then say "I bought these bad boys today". Why are they bad and why are they boys?

Also women who say eek in the context of eg "i have published my first article, eek". No man would ever say that.

I can’t bring myself to tell the hairdresser I want “Bangs”. I just hate it and I cringe at even having to ask for that. It’s always been a fringe. But now apparently it’s bangs. How do you even use it in a sentence, is it “give me a bangs style” “I want bangs hair” “I want a bangs” even typing it is making me cringe. 🤢

I agree. Why is it plural? A fringe is just one block of hair. Pig tails? 2 of those so that makes sense. Bangs is just baffling.

😂

The constant use of the prefix “peri” here. I have to refrain from replying “peri what??”

(not to mention it being used as an excuse for all sorts of symptoms and behaviour)

Oh god just ask for a fringe 😂

😂😂

Oh God - a bit like that year when the BBC kept using the phrase “Barbecue Summer”. As in “So, Chris, is it going to be a Barbecue Summer?!?”. No one ever talks about Barbecue Summers.

I mean, surely anywhere in the UK, you’d get laughed out of the salon if you started talking about bangs.

Yes! In 'my day' there was no such thing!

Bangs is American English...always plural ( no bang) because you're talking about more than 1 hair being cut. We find 'fringe' really odd to be used in reference to a hairdo because fringe is reserved for curtains or tablecloths, or hippie clothes from the '60s or cowboy outfits 😂

@Sweetpea1532 whereas using “bangs” to refer to hair is so much better.

I was aware that 'bangs' was used in the US when I was a teenager (a million years ago) @Sweetpea1532 but I am not sure where I picked it up. I do have American cousins so maybe from them? I have never heard it used in the UK, so this new use is news to me.

edited to add: according to AI 'bangs' is used twice in To Kill A Mockingbird so that would probably be where I first heard it.

Perhaps from TV or films?

It was the same journalists who drowned us with articles of "hacks" instead of tips. Now it's known as a hack in normal every day language. It was the journalists that did this!

People eating yogurt or cold runny food with a spoon outside of their home 😭

People who repeatedly announce how incredibly cute their child is, apropos of nothing. Particularly if they do it more than twice an hour. It’s a conversation killer.

So is it no longer "sourcing a slim leg jean, a classic cashmere sweater and a heeled boot in order to curate the basis of a capusle wardrobe"? And often worn with "a smoky eye and a red lip" Get the ick big time from that crap.

(Or as I know it "Buying some jeans a jumper and some boots, hopefully they will go with what I already have then bunging on a bit of slap"?)

When did these things become a) singular rather than plural as they have always been and b) wanky. If I went out with one boot, one smokey eye, one red lip and half a pair of jeans I would look like I needed sectioning, not fashionable!

Touching anything in public places that has been touched by other people, I guess handles are the worse.

I'm with you @Wonderlandpeony . I find touching door handles after washing your hands when you are in the loo particularly icky! Especially when you see so many people/women just walking out without washing - yuk