beige flag

People who use dating sites have acquired a certain amount of wisdom in how to navigate them.  They recognise red flags, warnings that the other person is going to give them grief, such as they talk too much about themselves, they talk about their ex, they want to engage in explicit sex talk too quickly, they have a vague profile and won’t send you pictures.  These are all things to watch out for. The opposite of course is the green flag, the signal that makes the prospective dating partner attractive.

But in 2022 a new flag appeared — the beige flag, one which indicated terminal boredom.  That was taken up on TikTok and became the odd habit that a partner (who is otherwise perfectly wonderful) has.  These are recounted for the amusement of others.  An example is a partner who insists on helping the staff at a restaurant serve the meals.  Or someone who is too scared to turn off their phone at night in case the alarm then doesn’t go off.  I think actually there is a long tradition of people recounting the quirky, amusing, idiotic things that their partner does. On TikTok it has become the beige flag.