What does ‘ick’ mean?

IF you're looking for romance you want to find someone you're compatible with.

However, some people complain that others give them the ick - so what does this mean.

What does Ick mean?

An ick is something that's a turn-off when you have romantic interest in someone.

These feelings are often irrational, and are mostly things that the particular person cannot control.

But it's not as simple as a turn-off, when you get the ick, it affects your view about the other person as a whole, and find it hard to get that attraction back.

It can often be a person's gut feeling about another person and what they could be like.

On the other hand sometimes it could be something that makes absolutely no sense and would not be a problem for other people.

It depends on the person, and everyone reads situations like this differently.

Ick is a word which in general describes disgust at something, which can happen in a now popularised romantic sense,

What is an example of an Ick?

Common icks can include things that other people would consider normal.

This could be a person being too loud, a noisy eater, or someone that tells crude jokes.

This could also include when a person is rude to hospitality staff i.e. waiting and bar staff, or milder things such as eating with their mouth open.

Who started using the term Ick?

The term ick has been used by a variety of different people over the years.

The term "ick factor" first appeared in an edition of American Newsweek magazine in 1979. 

On hit US sit-com Friends, the 22 episode of the first series was named "The one with the ick factor."

In this episode, Monica, played by Courteney Cox, unknowingly has a relationship with a high school senior without realising his age.

During the episode, released in 1995, when the boy asks why she is breaking off their relationship because of his age, she replies saying "it's icky".

It was later used by Olivia Attwood during series three of Love Island, to describe what would turn her off from a potential love interest.

According to the dictionary the word ick has been around since the 1940s.