In Denmark, the global Gen Z slang “ick” has entered everyday dating language, replacing old Danish words for disgust and reshaping how young people talk about attraction, revulsion, and the fine line between charm and cringe
There’s a new staple in the globalised Gen Z glossary: “ick”. Remember the Sex and the City episode “The Ick Factor”? In English, “ick” is slang for the sudden disgust you feel toward someone you once fancied, often triggered by a tiny habit. It can also be an exclamation of revulsion, like saying that something is icky. As one Love Island contestant explained: “When you’ve seen a boy and got the ick, it doesn’t go… it’s caught you, taken over your body. It’s just ick. I can’t shake it off.”
TikTok spread the term further, with countless videos of girls listing their icks, from flip-flops and nose-picking to sauce crusts on the lips. As linguist Marianne Rathje notes in Politiken, the ick has hit dating in Denmark. The term is now common in youth slang and mainstream media, replacing traditional Danish expressions of disgust like ad (ew) and bvadr (yuck). Your date picking their nose is not just revolting or awkward – it’s ick.
Rathje recalls a chat with her 19-year-old daughter about her and her friends’ dating life. What Danish dictionaries can’t explain, her daughter knows: ick is the sudden feeling that something’s off with a date. It’s like nausea. Greasy hair? Chewing loudly? Socks with sandals? Or even crocs? It just gives you the ick.
In the 1940s, ick meant something sticky or disgusting. The word is probably onomatopoeic – it imitates the sound it describes. It might even be related to the word sick. As the Cambridge Dictionary put it: “Then he kissed her! Ick!” The article then reassures readers: “If you suddenly get the ick, you don’t have to act on it straight away and break up with the person.”
The Danish language now uses ick as a noun, mostly in dating contexts. It first appeared as “the ick”, as in: “He gave her the ick, because he always ended up spitting a little in his beer.” Then there’s just “ick”, without the article: “When you feel an ick with your date, just think about whether it’s a superficial ew.” Dropping the English “the” shows that the word has taken on a life of its own in Danish.
Rathje cites students using “ick” without “the” – for example, “It’s an ick” for something awkward, or “There are way too many icks in that meme.” For them, ick isn’t just about a date gone wrong. They also use “ick!” as an exclamation of disgust, much like the Danish bvadr or ad. It looks like ick is starting to overtake the good old “turnoff”. Whether that’s an ick or not is another matter.
Original article (“Sprogforsker: Engelsk udtryk er ved at skubbe ad og bvadr af banen – men ordbog advarer mænd mod at bruge det”) was published in Danish on the 16 June 2025.
It is available here.
Politiken is a leading Danish newspaper covering news, culture and opinion.
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