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Squirrel train choo choo

- At egscomics 

EDIT - Minor change that I think looks better

Commentary

My dictionary says "NO!" to Grace’s definition, but it ALSO defines flirting as amorous behavior WITHOUT serious intent? As in, it would only be “flirting” if you specifically weren’t interested in something happening.

I've always thought of that as being a type of flirting, not the only type of flirting there is. I'm not sure this is a dictionary definition that reflects common usage.

Not that I think I was going by common usage, either. Prior to looking it up, I came up with this definition as it relates to what Grace was thinking:

"An action that is a manifestation of one's physical and/or romantic attraction to another person, directed at that person, with the desired outcome being reciprocation from that person in some form."

Sounds like a way I would put a thing, doesn't it?

In retrospect, what I wrote doesn't cover a lack of serious intent, which, as I said, is a type of flirting, if not objectively what flirting literally is if accepting certain dictionaries as the judge.

I do think what I wrote covers what Grace was referring to as a possibility. The hypothetical manifestation being a contest with Grace, and the desired reciprocation being Grace enjoying the interaction, and/or being impressed by him.

Notably, it's an interaction, and desired outcome, that could have absolutely nothing to do with any form of physical/romantic attraction. Grace is unsure herself.

In any case, if discussions after the previous comic have taught me anything, flirting can mean literally anything depending on who you ask, and people are terrible at determining whether other people are flirting regardless of the definition used. It's probably best not to assume unless you really know someone well.

And now I'm going to go and hide somewhere, because I never want to discuss the definition of flirting again.


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Comments

Thisguy

Huh. I thought it was more, “proud of his strength and slightly put off that someone might be stronger than him”. But having proved that she is kinda stronger than he is, he at least accepts defeat gracefully.

Matt R

Gotta love friendship hugs

M.

Given the first two comics he was in (https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/jestful-28, https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/jestful-29), I got the impression that he was more than just proud of his strength - he seemed like the type who couldn't deal with anyone being better than him. The line "I'm afraid I can't let that slide" really made him seem like a jerk to me. But I'm glad he's not as bad as he seemed.

Stephen Gilberg

Certainly, when we use "flirt" in other contexts, such as "flirting with disaster," we don't mean a serious effort. I suppose better words for the serious form would be "court" and "woo." But the definition may well change in our lifetimes. I once came across a dictionary entry for "sexual harassment" that applied only to bosses harassing employees.

ijuinkun

Yeah, sexual harassment was originally envisioned as the harasser bullying the victim from a position of impunity due to status/authority, with the focus being on the victim being unable to simply walk away from the situation. It was only more recently that the focus shifted from "you shouldn't make her feel trapped" to "you shouldn't objectify her in the first place".