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The Bridge: Gen Z’s lingo describing the 🤢 feeling that lies somewhere between cringe and pet-peeve.
This week’s lingo is all about “The Ick (🤮)”
🤮🤮🤮 THE DREADED ICK
We’ve touched on cringe behavior in past lingo crash-courses, going into detail about the societal faux-pas that make us…well, cringe.
It’s Gen Z lingo 101.
We think you’re ready for more nuanced Gen Z syntax, like the feeling you get when someone does something only you have an issue with. The 🤢 feeling that lies somewhere between cringe and pet-peeve.
This week’s lingo is all about “The Ick (🤮)”
The Ick, in our humble opinion, perfectly describes something that really puts you off, especially in the early stages of dating. Way to go Zoomers.
Here’s some examples:
- You’re on a second date with your crush at a fancy restaurant and the waiter brings them the wrong meal. They proceed to disrespect the waiter.ICK, you’re no longer attracted to them.
- You think it’s hot that your crush LOVES the outdoors, until you notice that their fingernails are always dirty.ICK, deal breaker.
- You meet your bf/gf’s parents for the first time and notice that they all use baby talk with each other……ICK 🤢🤮
Unfortunately, The Ick can be caused by anything at any moment, with few options to undo the damage. Oftentimes we don’t even know we feel that way until we’re…caught in the thick of Ick.
Such is life 🤷♀️. Instead of saying “I just don’t like it”, try using the vocab below to better describe your “Icks” to the Zoomers in your life.
- “The Ick” – A feeling of disgust with a potential romantic partner.
- “Funny, that used to give me the ick” – That behavior used to bother me.
- “I think I gave them the ick” – Something I’ve done must have turned them off.
- “I like them, but I can’t move past the ick” – Despite my crush on this person, this one behavior is a deal breaker.
- “🤮/🤢” – The vomit and nausea emojis, personifications of The Ick.
Tell us what gives you the ick over in our comments: @thegenbridge!
