Pick Up Lines 101 – Which Lines Work? Which Don't?

The first pick up line I ever used was actually really lame. My older brother gave it to me as I was asking about how to approach girls. The problem was, that although he had good intentions. It was a line that with 90% surety was going to make me crash and burn. It was what you call a ‘cheesy pick up line’. Here it is:

Guy: Did you see those two pink elephants ice skating?

Girl: What? / No?

Guy: Well that has broken the ice. What is your name?

Cringeworthy isn’t it.

It’s difficult to know which pick up lines work, and which ones don’t. Most of the ones you find on web sites, in magazines or the ones that get passed around amongst your friends sound lame. But on the other hand you have not read about or heard any other better options.

Well, there are other options. In fact there are many. This is ‘pick up line 101′. I’m going to give you an outline of the different types of pick up lines and how useful they are. I’ve rated them out of 10 to make it easy for you.

  1. The Cheesy Pick Up Line: (Also known as Corny Pick Up Lines) Most pick up lines you read in magazines, on the Internet and hear from friends are ‘cheesy’. They are actually near completely useless for actually picking up. Their purpose is for entertainment. Pure and simple. They are literally so bad, that they make your stomach churn and your ears hurt. The best response you are likely to get from a girl is her laughing at how bad it is and thinking it’s cute that you used it. You can recognize these pick up lines because they sound like a bad joke. The pink elephants line above is a cheesy pick up line. Rating: 2/10
  2. Dirty Pick Up Lines: If you didn’t think it could get worse. I’m sorry to say it does. Take the cheesy lines and add sexual insinuations and lewd remarks and you get the dirty pick up line. These are the worst of the pick up lines. Great to have a chuckle about with your buddies, but not to be used in real live pick up situations. Virtual guaranteed crash and burn. You know those scenes in the films where the guy gets slapped? Dirty pick up lines were there… Rating: 1/10
  3. Romantic & Sweet Pick Up Lines: Probably the oldest pick up lines are those you’d get in the old 60s romance movies. Think Marlon Brando, Fred Astair and Frank Sinatra. These lines worked great in the day, but they’ve become too cliche – over used and played out. Also girls have changed since those days and are more independent, less ‘girly’ and like a bit more attitude in their guys. These lines can still work in the right situations, and when used sincerely. But tread carefully.Rating: 4/10
  4. Casual Pick Up Lines: The most used lines are actually not talked about much. Casual pick up lines are just the things you say everday to people. This can include asking for directions, to just commenting on something around you. Some people call these situational pick up lines (or openers) for that reason. These can work surprisingly well. The point is just to get talking to the girl, and these can often achieve that goal.
    Rating: 5/10
  5. Funny Pick Up Lines: Laughter is a great ice breaker. It gets a girl in a warm-fuzzy mood and state of mind where she is more likely to want to talk to you more. Even if she has been having a bad day. Be careful though. Don’t mistake genuinely funny lines for cheesy lines. Think of it like this. Cheesy = Bad joke that makes you laugh because it’s so bad. Funny = Genuine laughter. Humour must also be calibrated to the girl’s personality. Not everyone finds the same things funny. also, if a girl is used to getting hit on, she will be more guarded about letting herself go and laughing. For those of you that are good at making people laugh, you have a natural talent here – don’t let it go to waste!
    Rating: 7/10
  6. Cocky & Funny Lines: Add some cockyness to your funny lines and you get the magical concoction known as the Cocky & Funny line. This has been found to be a great way to start with more attractive girls that are more guarded about who they let chat them up. Being cocky means remarks that are very confident, often assume that she already loves you, and can be slightly arrogant. Be careful – these lines crash and burn with girls who are not ‘cocky’ about themselves. They should only be used sparingly with very confident girls. Usually more attractive girls are more confident, but this isn’t always true.
    Rating: 8/10
  7. Opinion Openers: Mentioned before, but worth repeating. The point of a pick up line is to start a conversation with the girl. That’s it. Once you are relating to each other in conversation you can take it from there and you have a much better chance of it going somewhere. For this reason, pick up lines are also known as ‘openers’. The idea is that they ‘open’ a person up to talking with you. The opinion opener is the most famous of the openers invented by the pick up artist community. It relies on a fact of life. People love to give opinions on things. Girls, especially, love to give opinions on topics such as relationships and fashion. So, it’s easy to start a conversation with a girl by simply asking for her opinion on one of these subjects. Make it genuine of course, and it works a lot better.
    Rating: 9/10

What you have to remember with all of these is that there is no magical pick up line. The truth is that a pick up line works because of the personality you put behind it. That includes things like your charm, body language, vocal tonality and all sorts of other subtleties that define how you come across to other people.

Having said that. Don’t make life hard on yourself. If you use better pick up lines you reduce the risk of crashing and burning when you approach a woman to talk with her. Avoid the cheesy and dirty pick up lines and use casual, funny, cocky & funny and opinion openers and you’ll increase your chances dramatically.

Want examples of pick up lines by the truck load? See the best pick up lines and the worst pick up lines, submit your own and see how good they are at PickUpLinesVault.com.

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