The top 40 strangest reasons your partner may break up with you - from clapping on planes to dirty fingernails

• Published date: 06 February 2023
• Publication title: DublinLive (Ireland)

Being too clingy, being rude to waiters and having ugly tattoos are also among the top reasons people have ended things with a partner. The poll of 2,000 adults found over half (65%) have ended a relationship because of an 'ick' - a trait that turns them off - while 88% of them have ghosted someone completely

Nearly a sixth (15%) have called it quits with a potential partner because they were obsessed with star signs, while 14% have ended things because their partner clapped when a plane landed. And in echoes of Joey from Friends, 14% of men would happily break it off with someone who wanted to share food on a first date.

For women, 16% find someone wearing a tacky watch to be an 'ick', while 15% can't abide their partner referring to their favourite sports team as "we". Meanwhile, the study, which was commissioned by upscale dating site Seeking and conducted by OnePoll, found smelling bad is the top ick, selected by 24% of those surveyed.

Know-alls who pretend to be more knowledgeable about a subject that they actually are and people who are rude to waiters tied for second place on 21%. It also emerged 58% believe they have given someone the ick themselves, turning them off totally.

When it comes to selecting a partner, 79% believe they deserve the best so try to up their standards, showing the prevalence of the 'dating up' trend. "People are very set on what they want, which is empowering, said Emma Hathorn, spokesperson and in-house dating expert at Seeking. "Online dating has opened a whole new world of singles, which means people can afford to have higher standards.

"And if an absolute deal-breaker for you is someone who never wears sunglasses indoors or chews with their mouth open, that's absolutely fair enough." The study also revealed 48% believe their dating standards have gotten higher as they have gotten older — with those aged 65 and up most likely to feel this way. . But 40% of adults do feel dating gets harder the older they get.

"The current trend in dating at the moment is 'dating up' – finding someone who can better and elevate their own lifestyle," added Hathorn. "So, the goal for all singletons is to not only be someone who can help someone else 'date up' —...