At least, that’s what online dating behemoth OKCupid claims, after analysing the best ways for guys to get a response from a potential sweetheart. They’ve got charts and everything, so it must be scientific. Amongst the suggestions: be self-effacing, don’t compliment her, and don’t be too eager to try and make a connection that doesn’t involve sitting at a glowing widescreen monitor in your cold, empty, lonely house.
Oh, and if at all possible, be an athiest. Yes, really.
Probably the most interesting bit is the section on how to say ‘hello’. You might think it’s a simple matter of ‘Hello’, or ‘Hi’, but it turns out that a less obvious greeting is far more likely to catch the lovely lady’s attention. “How’s it going?” hits the top of the list, with “Hola” also performing pretty well.
Oddly though, “Holla” is firmly in the negative zone, giving you one more reason to double-check your spelling. The other being that apparently it counts. Nothing turns a girl off like missing the apostrophe in “can’t”, or so it says here. Good to know, even if you aren’t specifically chasing after Lynne Truss.
