These cross the pick-up line. Dropping a one-liner on a prospective date might seem enticing, but it can often prove a romance repellent. A recent survey of single people revealed the 30 worst messages to send a potential match — with “send pics” and the eggplant emoji ranking as the biggest turn-offs.
“It’s clear from the research that first impressions are so important, and so many people waste this on an awful opening messaging on a dating app which ends the spark before it’s even started,” said Marco van der Woude, cofounder of the dating app Breeze, which conducted the study, per Yahoo News. In accordance, he humanized Breeze by “removing the chat function and instead encouraging in-person meet-ups,” he explained. Of the 2,000 British singletons surveyed, 45% deemed “send pics” as the rudest bit of banter, followed by the eggplant emoji with 45% (potentially because it’s a digital stand-in for a penis).
Sexually suggestive messages were also extremely offputting, per the poll. Ranking in third, fourth and fifth place were: “Hey, sexy, what’s your number?” (40%), “Do you like bad boys/girls?” “(38%) and replying “Without me?” when they say they’re going to shower (38%). “You’re so hawt” and “You’re so sexy” came in fifth and sixth place, respectively, with 34% of respondents deeming those lines conversational kryptonite.
By a similar token, 34% of those surveyed also took issue with “phwoarr,” a British expression .