Ranked: 10 worst guy moves and habits that give women ‘ick’

To say media coverage of the recent Blue Origin space flight featuring a collection of women scientists and celebrities took a quick, dark turn would be a massive understatement.

In the blink of an eye, the zeitgeist flashed from celebrating a win for womenkind to a laundry list of angry complaints.

Among the criticisms:

It was a waste of money (“There are people starving in America”, etc.)

It was bad for the planet

The inclusion of singer Katy Perry, TV presenter Gayle King, and Jeff Bezos’ wife Lauren Sanchez was frivolous

One Guardian columnist went so far as to call it a showcase for the “utter defeat of American feminism”.

While my own interest in the whole story barely ticked above “completely indifferent”, I did find one particular criticism of the man bankrolling the flight — Amazon founder Bezos — to be pretty funny.

After the Blue Origin capsule landed back on Earth, Bezos was caught on camera doing a faceplant as he raced around it to greet his wife.

Afterwards, I saw a bunch of Tweets from women saying things like “Lauren Sanchez getting the ‘ick’ watching her hubby faceplant as he excitedly runs to greet her”.

I thought it was a little mean-spirited — the guy was just happy to see his wife back on the planet, safe and sound! — but it did get me thinking about the concept of women getting “the ick” from a guy.

It also got me wondering about the many ways a guy can inadvertently turn a woman’s attraction into revulsion in a moment.

So I decided to do some research and compile a power ranking.

Fellas, if you like being in a relationship, avoid the following 10 faux pas.

What is the ‘ick’

Ick can be a bit of a nebulous term.

For example, my wife and her friends sometimes refer to it when discussing celebrity men who are physically attractive and widely popular, but there’s just something about them that hints: “This guy is a d**k in real life.”

In others, it’s a reference to the kind of neediness allegedly displayed by the Book Baron toward his airborne wife.

From what I can gather, there are 4 main keys to ick:

It’s a feeling of disgust or a turn-off that happens intensely and suddenly

It is often irrational and can seem trivial

It creates a visceral reaction that has real lasting power

It frequently signals the beginning of the end of a relationship

Now I am far from a charmer, but I think I do a good job of avoiding the vast majority of these missteps.

I think everyone lacks some confidence and can be a little needy in relationships when they’re young (that goes both ways, too), and I certainly wasn’t totally innocent in that regard.

But some of these are downright deal-breakers for both men and women no matter what age they are or what phase of a relationship they’re in.

Let’s talk about the list now.

The ‘ick’ power ranking: process

Here’s how I compiled the Ick Power Ranking of Stuff You Shouldn’t Do If You Hope to Remain In a Relationship.

I asked the Top 3 AIs (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude) of they understood what ‘ick’ was (they all did) and then asked them to compile a list of the top 10 causes.

Then I aggregated that information using a scoring system to come up with the ultimate power ranking.

As you’ll see, the 80/20 Principle applies here. The Top 2 bad behaviors were runaway leaders.

But there was a wide variation the further down I got.

In fact, 9 different identified Icks didn’t even make our list.

Let’s get to the Top 10.

The top 10 worst behaviors and habits that cause ‘ick’

Without further ado:

1. Poor hygiene (30 points)

This one is a no-brainer. If your partner stinks — be it body or breath — this is an instant turn-off.

Poor hygiene ranked first overall on every AI’s list and is the runaway winner.

2. Rudeness (25 points)

Being rude, especially to wait staff and other service people, is a massive red flag to most women.

Yeah, everyone wants good service, but is it really worth berating that teenager making your Subway sandwich?

3. Arrogance (19 points)

This is different than confidence, which according to my wife is the biggest turn-on there is for a woman.

Talking about how much better you are than everyone or bragging about how much money you make sets off the ick detector.

4. Excessive social media usage (18 points)

This one surprised me a bit given how addicted everyone is to screens nowadays, but I think it ties in tightly with the arrogance thing.

If you’re obsessed with your image on the internet, you’re often not paying attention to the person right in front of you.

5. Messy/noisy eating habits (15 points)

I’ve found that few things annoy women more than loud eating.

Chewing loudly, smacking your lips, talking with your mouth full — in general, poor eating habits rank highly here.

If you’re on a date, maybe choose something other than the chicken wings.

6. Bad or annoying habits (14 points)

At the start of a relationship, it can be easy to gloss over bad habits like cracking knuckles, biting nails, or breathing loudly.

Some are not as easy to ignore (e.g., nose picking).

As time goes on, however, these seemingly trivial things can start to wear on a partner … especially if there are bigger issues at play in the relationship.

7. Being controlling or needy (12 points)

We’ve spoken about this already. Neediness screams lack of self-confidence.

And being controlling will not only turn off the girl, but her friends and family as well.

8. Annoying speech/cringe behavior (11 points)

The other day, I saw a clip of a wedding where the bride and groom cut the cake and then, seconds later, the groom shoves her face into it.

He’s smiling, whooping it up to the crowd, and looking for a high five from her.

But you can tell she’s mortified and absolutely fuming.

This kind of absolutely cringeworthy behavior no doubt set that couple back big-time … and on the first day of their marriage, no less.

Other annoying stuff, like using pick-up lines, talking in weird voices (i.e., baby voice), acting out in public, or telling bad jokes and then explaining them, can all trigger an ick.

9. Talking about exes (8 points)

Another no-brainer here.

If you’re out with someone, the last person you want to hear about is the last person they dated.

10. Zero sense of humor (5 points)

It’s one thing to be sexily dark and brooding, it’s another to be a big, dull dud.

Getting through a conversation with someone lacking any sense of humor can feel like a long, painful marathon.

The bottom line on being attractive

There are a lot of ick-related landmines to avoid in any relationship — especially early on — but I think there’s a pretty simple rule of thumb you can follow that will put you in good stead with anyone of the opposite sex.

For men, it really just comes down to this:

Be confident (but not arrogant), don’t be a weirdo, and have your s**t together.

If you can manage that, you’ll have the foundation for an ick-free relationship.

Ladies, what is the №1 ‘ick’ behavior a guy can do in your books?

Fellas, what sets off the ick in you?

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