I'd call that passive-aggressive behaviour. Your partner wants you to give up and keep your mouth shut.

Believe it or not, I am going through something similar with my partner even as we speak. He has passive-aggressive down to a fine art. He does a lot of tinkering, and bits of wood, plastic, wire, paint and glue end up all over the house. I've asked him several times to at least keep a bench in our rather small kitchen clear. Every time, he appears to make the effort for a few days, then things start sneaking back, in a small way at first, then back to being as bad as it ever was. I made the "mistake" of bringing it up again tonight, and now he's gone off to his room acting offended and insulted, like it's all my fault for mentioning it. I know if I pursue it further, it will end up in a full-on row, and according to him it will be all my fault.

I've noticed that when he is building up resentment about something (no doubt he is doing that right now), he does the things that he knows annoy me, even more. Of course he would deny it, but there definitely is a pattern. Eventually when I feel moved to say something, all his pent up anger and resentment comes spilling out and I realise that he has set me up. So my choice always is to give up and let him have his way, or risk hostility and resentment and a shouting match. Not much of a choice.

So I ask myself, should I keep my mouth shut? Hell no! I'll walk away when it gets bad, but I won't be silenced. I have a right to ask for what I want. What I have found out is that keeping things in is not good for me - I recently found out my blood pressure is up and I'm pretty sure this stuff must be a contributing factor. I'm not prepared to live my life with my mouth shut. Life's too short to have to tiptoe around and watch what I say. I'm taking care of me from now on.