Flirting Mistakes We All Make

By The Frisky posted Dec 28th 2009 9:00AM

Can't get a date? Retire your bad flirting technique.

Before she met her fiancé, my friend Michelle was the biggest flirt on the Eastern Seaboard. If she spotted a guy she wanted to talk to, she'd walk right up, tilt her head to one side and ask a completely inane question. At bars, the question was inevitably, "What are you drinking? That looks really good!" Within seconds she had a drink in her hand and a pair of puppy dog eyes watching her every move. The Frisky: For Some, Flirting Is A Sport

It didn't hurt that she was very pretty, but I couldn't believe that asking a guy—who was inevitably drinking a beer!—what he was drinking was so effective. I mean, it's obviously a beer! One night, over a shared bottle of wine, she was explaining the finer points of her technique, when a cute guy walked over and poked his head between us. "What are you drinking?" he asked. The Frisky: 5 Bits Of Body Language Guys Don't Notice

"What does it look like we're drinking?" I answered snottily. I was trying to listen to my friend—attempting to learn how to talk to men. Couldn't he see we were busy? Michelle rolled her eyes at me and turned to him with a smile. "It's a Malbec from Argentina. Want a sip?" The Frisky: What's The Worst Pick-Up Line You've Ever Heard?

That night was filled with valuable lessons. The main one being, if someone asks you a question—even a dumb one—they're trying to engage you on some level, so don't shoot them down. Here are a few other flirting don'ts I discovered along the way. The Frisky: How Not To Flirt

Not everyone's looking for a celebrity endorsement.

Zachary Lipez is a bartender/DJ/musician and so has not only witnessed some seriously clumsy flirtation attempts, he's also been the target of one or two. "I realize I look like Paul Rubens and Harry Potter, and that you mean that as a compliment, but no, I'm not taking your shirt off anytime soon," he sighs, describing the lines he's been fed. Note to the ladies: Maybe a little Potter, but absolutely no Pee Wee. The Frisky: Ever Flirted With Your Boss To Get Ahead?

To stay out of the danger zone, avoid telling anyone they look like a celebrity south of Johnny Depp. The Frisky: MERRIMe, A New Web Comedy About Online Dating