The language of love . . .

Yo! For all you online suitors out there hoping to woo with the written word, here’s a bit of advice from dating website OKCupid:

‘. . . netspeak, bad grammar and bad spelling are huge turn-offs.’

Expressions least likely to win you a reply, let alone a date, include ‘ur’, ‘r’,’u’ and ‘ya’. Similarly, words misspelt simply to shorten them such as ‘realy’, ‘luv’ and ‘wat’ are also to be avoided if you are hoping to impress. Unaccountably though, for me anyway, phrases such as ‘kinda’, ‘what’s up’ and ‘yo’ don’t appear to deter – hence my out-of-character introduction. So no, for those of you beginning to wonder, OKCupid isn’t a service dedicated to middle-aged pedants like me.

For more pointers on what you should be saying to secure that first date, take a look at the original article. Admittedly it was written nearly four years ago now, but I’m guessing that its findings are no less pertinent.

PS: Can anyone talk me through ‘realy’?