We asked and you delivered: Here are Lancaster’s biggest icks

Icks. Something that turns you off someone immediately. You think you’re starting to fall for someone, or really enjoying their company, and then they do this one thing and you’re entirely disgusted from that point on and can no longer look at them the same way. Nothing will ever be the same once you get the ick, and you might wish to go back to the way it was, but chances are you won’t.

Icks are often extremely specific, hilarious, and something the individual usually cannot help. So we asked, and you delivered. Here are Lancaster student’s icks, so you know what to avoid doing (or being) in the future.

‘Men’

Valid. No other comments.

‘Economics or business boys’

Also valid. Business boys are a different breed (although, not all of them, we have to add), and they usually have some sort of business idea that will “make them millions”. They will then proceed to tell you they’re only at uni “for the experience”. We’ll almost certainly see them on The Apprentice in five or so years’ time, and they will still radiate ickiness.

‘County boys’

All you need to do is look at OnlyLancs to see everything you need to see about County boys, and every single post will either give you the ick or severe red flags.

‘Using the thumbs up emoji when messaging’

We weren’t 100 per cent sure about this one being an ick, until we remembered that the only people who usually do this are middle-aged parents. We then imagined receiving a thumbs-up emoji from a significant other, and were immediately disappointed.

‘People who call it Lanny and not Lancs’

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Again this one is completely understandable. Why on earth would you call it Lanny? There is just no need. Lancaster or Lancs. Nothing else is allowed.

‘Vaping – especially indoors like in Sugar’ 

Walking around the corner by the library and smelling a sickly sweet dessert, and then realising it’s a cloud of elf bar, has got to be the most disappointing, ick-inducing event. Especially when you’re hungry. Also, Sugar is sweaty enough without random clouds of sugary air appearing across the dancefloor – ICK.

‘When the barber has to push up their chair’

Just take a second to imagine this. Picture your celebrity crush having to have the chair pushed up at the barbers. Immediately, you are no longer interested. (Unrelated note: does anyone want to buy a Harry Styles ticket? Nothing to do with the mental image of him having a haircut. Promise.)

‘Using the word ‘like’ excessively’

It’s often not noticed straight away, but once you notice, you cannot ignore it ever again. It’s all you hear, and you have to get out of there FAST.

‘People who sit at the end of rows in lecture halls when the rest of the row is empty’ 

It’s always when you’re arriving late to the lecture and you either have to climb over them or they have to come out and you have to awkwardly shuffle past them, giving yourself and everyone else the ick while you’re moving.

‘Asking me to watch them play video games.’

Just imagine: you’ve just had a lovely date with someone, went for a meal, you’ve walked back to their accommodation and then, out of nowhere, comes the question, “Would you like to come in and watch me play Hogwarts Legacy?”. Just run away. The fact that it is “watch” and not “play with me” should be an immediate red flag. Imagining yourself sitting on the bed watching them is an ick in itself.

‘Southerners’ 

We’re a northern uni: acceptable and understood.

‘When the lecturers don’t put the main points on their slides, especially when it’s just random photos.’

Icks also apply in non-romantic settings, and this one is 100 per cent valid. No one can type fast enough to record what the lecturer says, and who’s got the time to rewatch the recording to figure out what was going on? And when it comes to revision, we have no hope of knowing what was happening when it’s just a picture of a random academic. Or even better: A picture of One Direction?

Please stop doing this. Sincerely, ick-induced students.

‘Watching them chase after a piece of rubbish they’ve dropped that’s blowing away from them in the wind’

At least they’re not littering?

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