5 Cliché Phrases To Avoid In Your Online Dating Profile
Nobody wants to date a cliché.
irynakhabliuk | Canva There are so many tired clichés and phrases on dating profiles. If you're serious about finding love, you should avoid them all — especially the ones that make you sound pandering and obsequious for a relationship. Be you, own it, and the right person will find you. How will your soulmate know you're unique and interesting if you sound like a boring, packaged caricature?
Here are 5 cliché phrases to avoid in your online dating profile
1. I love to laugh
Oh really, you're the one person who loves to laugh? Who doesn't love to laugh? We all do. Is there someone who loves to cry? I would love to read an online dating profile that states, "Hi, I'm Janet and I love to cry. If you love to cry as well, please reach out so we can cry together. I just love it! We can cry all night long." Saying you love to laugh is like saying you love oxygen. Do you also love food? Laughter, food, and oxygen are all part of the living experience. We should stop announcing it as if it makes us unique.
Asti Mak via Shutterstock
2. Work hard but play harder
Those who work hard don't go around telling people "I work hard but play harder." They just work hard. If you are truly working hard, you won't have time to talk about it. I'm sure Albert Einstein would credit his success to working hard but playing harder, "How did I invent the theory of Relativity? I worked hard but played harder."
3. I love traveling
People often express how much they love traveling on their dating profiles, yet most pictures are selfies inside their houses. Do they like to travel to different rooms in their house while taking self-portraits? "Look at me traveling to the undiscovered world of the bathroom. Here's a picture of me in front of this shower curtain." If you love to travel, that's great. Share details about exciting or special trips you've been on, but don't be generic about it. Would you ever meet someone at a bar, "Hey, it's nice to meet you? Do you love to travel? No?! I have to go. I will not talk to a man who doesn't love to travel. I want to go to Sweden someday."
4. Partner in crime
Before we become partners, let's discuss what type of crime we are committing. Are we committing fraud or jaywalking? Let's start slowly. Maybe "partners in crime" is too much for us. Perhaps we are better suited as "pals in offenses". Also, why do you need a partner? If you want to commit a crime, do it alone, you don't have to bring me into it! Let's say we get caught. Now I'm doing time in prison, and all because you wanted a "partner in crime". Maybe I'm being a little cheeky, but isn't it time we ditch this tired old phrase from our online dating vocabulary?
5. Long walks on the beach
Stop. Just stop. Stop walking around on the beach. Maybe that's the reason people stay single, they're too busy walking around on the beach all day. If people love long walks on the beach there should be a million people walking around on the beach right now, saying "I love it!" Me? I don't like to walk around on the beach. It's sandy and annoying plus all I can think about is how it's 20 degrees outside right now.
Darren Agboh via Shutterstock
No one's saying you can't enjoy or express these things. If you love the idea of traveling to a beach abroad with a partner in crime who laughs a lot and works hard but plays harder, well, that's your thing. But find a way to package and explain it creatively and engagingly. Nobody wants to date a cliché.
Justin McClure is a filmmaker, photographer, digital marketer, content creator, creative director, and author of Pray Your Kids Are Ugly.