English for dating online (Medium)

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Im Sam.

Roy

And Im Roy.

Sam

Nowadays many people use online dating apps to find love and romance. This involves writing a dating  � a short description of yourself which you hope makes you appear attractive to other people looking for love .

Roy

Online dating started with the internet, but the idea is not new. In the days before internet, people put dating adverts in newspapers. Because they paid a price per word, people described themselves in as words as possible, using abbreviations like GSOH, which meant a Good Sense Of Humour. Eventually, GSOH became a part everyday English.

Sam

Amazingly, the same thing is now happening in the world of online dating. In programme well be learning some of the newly invented words and phrases being used by people who are looking love on the internet.

Roy

Every year thousands of romantic relationships start through online dating apps. But always with information found on the internet, theres a danger that someones dating profile doesnt tell the whole truth.

Sam

Thats right, Roy, so my question is this: According to research, what do men tend to about in their dating profile?

Is it:

a) their hair?

b) their height?

or,

) their age?

Roy

Well, most people want to appear younger, so Ill say its c) their age.

Sam

Well find out if thats the correct answer later. The person behind the online dating research I was Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton. She describes herself as cyber-psychologist and has interviewed both men and women about what hide from potential online dating partners. Listen as she tells BBC Radio 4’s, Word of Mouth, what she discovered her interviews:

Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton

If youre very deceptive, so if you have no friends, and never go to the pub, and you said in your profile that your most fun thing to do is out with your friends on a Saturday night, then that becomes a problem because then youve been very deceptive. you occasionally do it and you made it sound a bit more like you do it all the time, more exaggeration  � a lot of people do that, where they exaggerate things about themselves to make them seem attractive. But theyre walking a fine line in trying to balance between being attractive and not completely disappointing.

People often exaggerate things about themselves to seem more attractive online, for example that they love hanging out, spending time with friends. Nicola also says theres a difference between exaggerating and being deceptive - deliberately lying and someone believe things that are not true.

Sam

Nicola says deceptive daters are walking a fine (or ) line  � theyre finding a balance between two opposing attitudes or ideas.

Roy

Online dating has also new vocabulary of its own. Heres Nicola Fox Hamilton again explaining the meaning of two new words, catfishing and , to BBC Radio 4’s, Word of Mouth.

Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton

Wokefishing is a version of , and catfishing is where someone creates a profile that isnt them at all, so a complex false identify usually the purpose of looking for, or pretending to get into involved in, love or romance. Wokefishing is when the is generally who they say they are, but they say that theyre much more liberal in their values and attitudes than they actually are.

Roy

Catfishing is when someone tries to be more attractive by creating false profile and pretending to be someone else on social media. Related to this is the term, wokefishing. Here asks about your political and social opinions, and pretends to share them in order to get closer to you. may pretend to have more liberal or progressive attitudes than they really do.

Sam

Looking for love never easy. The internet has helped thousands find romance and created some interesting new vocabulary, but there are dangers disappointments too

Roy

Speaking of which, its time to reveal the answer to your question, Sam. You what men tend to lie about in their dating profiles. I guessed it was their age.

Sam

were… wrong. According to research by Dr Fox Hamilton, men tend to lie about their height  � and women, their weight. OK, lets recap the new vocabulary weve learnt in this programme about the language of online romance with dating profile  � a brief written description of yourself which you hope will attract a partner.

Being deceptive means lying so people believe something that is not true.

Sam

Hanging out is informal way to say spending time with someone, usually friends.

Roy

The phrase, walking a fine line finding a balance between two opposing ideas or attitudes, or between two opposing sides so as not to annoy side.

Sam

And finally, we learnt two newly invented expressions. Catfishing means trying to appear more attractive pretending to be someone else on social media.

Roy

And wokefishing is when someone pretends to share same opinions as the person they are attracted to. Once again, our six minutes are up. Good luck if are looking for love online, and remember - theres probably someone out there interested in the real you. Bye now!

Sam

Bye!