Did I just see, in the year of our lord 2020 on tumblr dort com, someone use the term 'squick'?
Do we not use squick any more?
Did not get that memo
had I received the memo I would have lit it on fire
Squick is a useful word that allows you to say “I don’t enjoy this and am in fact the opposite of enjoying it, but there’s nothing wrong with you enjoying it.”
It’s a good word and the only reason I can think of to want it to not be used is bc it flies in the face of the purity police’s wanting to make all things they personally dislike “problematic” and “gross”.
Squick is also a useful word when you don’t want to misuse/dilute “trigger.”
Example: I am deeply squicked by descriptions of characters eating in a messy fashion that would leave food and grease all over their faces. I don’t have any trauma or phobias associated with it, so it’s not a trigger. And it’s not something that’s widely disapproved of, like, say, murder, so it’s not something you’re likely to tag for. (After all, how many “cute” photos have you seen of Baby’s First Attempt To Use A Spoon?) I just think it’s really gross, and if it pops up a lot or in detail it’s very likely to tank my enjoyment of what I’m reading, so I’d prefer not.
That, dear children, is a squick. I am squicked by messy eaters.
Please bring the word back in 2020. It’s incredibly useful.
People, I am BEGGING you to bring back “squick”. It is so. damn. useful.
Seriously, when/why did it fall out of use among the rest of you? I still use it, everyone I know (in and out of fandom) still uses it.
