Androids and singing lyrics wrong: These are officially the UK’s biggest icks of 2021

Icks are a simple fact of life. You simply haven’t lived if you haven’t had a romantic prospect, or even a friendship, flat-out ruined by something incredibly minor they do that you just simply cannot get over. Something as small as the phone they own, the emojis they use or how they act on social media really can be the difference between getting married and living happily ever after, or getting the ick and then having to change your name and flee the country.

A new study by music-based dating app POM (via Joe) has done a survey of 3,000 British people to find the ultimate ick of the year. Here are the 10 biggest icks of 2021:

1. Owning an Android phone

I am absolutely not surprised that owning an Android is apparently the ultimate ick, because it’s a scientific fact that it is. There’s nothing like the horror of scrolling mindlessly through Instagram stories, until you spot someone using the weird Android emojis on theirs. Thank you, next x

2. Refusing to learn to drive

Fine if you genuinely have a reason not to, but if you can why would you just flat-out refuse to learn? I can already hear the cries of: “I can drive, I just can’t legally drive”. Grow up.

3. Commenting on famous people’s social media posts

“Omg love this for you hun!!! Congrats x”, you see someone write in an Instagram comment. You freeze. Are they writing to a long lost friend, their sister, their favourite colleague? No, they’re commenting on a random pic someone from the cast of Love Island 2018 has posted.

4. Speaking in slang

I’m not sure I’m here for this one, because who can genuinely say they don’t use at least a few slang words on a regular basis? But I am here for is the ick that is texting slang. If you call me “bbz” you will be blocked, end of story.

5. When they are the only one to laugh at their own jokes

This in principle isn’t an ick, however it does imply that they are not funny and their jokes are shit, which IS an ick. But maybe their mates are just boring – if you think they’re funny, who cares what anyone else thinks?

6. Wearing gym clothes to a date

Unless your date involves going on some sort of hike, this just proves they care far more about the gym than they’ll ever care about you, which makes this very deserving of its place on the list of the biggest icks of 2021.

7. Dirty or unpainted nails

If unpainted nails is an ick to you, you need to get a grip. No one has the time for constant manicure updates. But dirty nails is a whole different story – it’s just downright gross.

8. Getting food stuck in their teeth

I mean yeah this isn’t great, but getting food stuck in your teeth is a normal thing that happens to everyone? However I think that if you were close to getting the ick over someone, something as tiny as seeing them get food in their teeth could tip you over the edge into ick-dom.

9. Singing the wrong lyrics to songs

Imagine dancing next to someone, having the time of your life bopping to ABBA’s seminal hit Dancing Queen, when you hear them belt out: “Feel the beat of the tangerrrrrrine, oh yeah!” Nothing but pure unadulterated horror.

10. Wearing a face mask under their nose

Why, just why, would you do this? Please stop.

Have your say: Which of these biggest icks is the ultimate of 2021?

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