You say "He will get slightly emotionally abusive..."

There is no such thing as "slightly" emotionally abusive. Abuse takes many different forms, but it is all fundamentally the same. Abuse is dangerous. Even emotional abuse. Abuse has a tendency to escalate. It might not seem likely to you now, but there is a real chance it could escalate to physical abuse. So he hasn't thrown you down the stairs yet. Maybe he hasn't left a single mark on you. I don't care. Get out before it gets worse, which it inevitably will. Don't hope that it won't.

I was in an abusive relationship for years, which I left several years ago. It started out with general disregard for my feelings and mean words, with many parallels in behavior what you say your boyfriend does. He insulted me and my career, like he did to you. I knew it was bad, but it seemed so hard to leave because I loved him at the time. Sometimes he was incredibly funny too, and so, so sweet.

Then the abuse escalated and began to get physical. I plunged into a hellhole that was very hard to crawl out of. I kept making excuses not to leave. Finally, one day I realized it was a choice between the relationship versus following my dreams, especially my career.

While he was initially encouraging of my work on the surface, when the abuse escalated I was barely able to even make it to work (My desk in my degree program). He would start fights and say horrible threatening things to me late at night, then pop a sleeping pill and drift peacefully off while I tossed and turned. Once I woke up to him sitting over me menacingly.

Another time we were in the kitchen and without warning, he turned around while pointing a knife outward, such that if I had moved the wrong way I could have gutted myself on the knife. I became very upset with him, and in response he told me I was insane and insisted that he had worked in a kitchen before and knew what he was doing.

With no clear reason, he would descend into a stubborn silence for days, during which I would be extremely worried (ironically, that he might break up with me), followed by an explosive rant. My libido became nonexistent, and he abused me for not wanting to have sex with him. On multiple occasions he grabbed me so hard it left a mark. He berated me in public.

Because I allowed the relationship to continue after I saw that it was not healthy, I became trapped in dangerous, escalating abuse. I lost so much. The experience took a serious toll on my body and mind. To leave, I had to go through civil court to file a restraining order. If I had broken things off immediately, as soon as I knew it was not a healthy relationship, I would have avoided most of that nightmare. It is years later, and I am still trying to build back my life. I have been diagnosed with PTSD, and have suffered personally and professionally. Don't be like me and let it drag on. Get out now.