[General] What does it mean?

[guliver]

Hello, everybody!!!

In this phrase "young women sitting around in bars waiting to be picked up".


In this context "picked up" means what? If is it possible I would like a synonym for that


Thank you all for helping me!!!

 

[SoothingDave]

To find a man to spend the night with.

 

[konungursvia]

More loosely, many people (particularly women) use the phrase to mean merely being approached socially with an attempt to get to know the woman.

To find a man to spend the night with.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

NOT A TEACHER

To find a man to spend the night with.

Didn't you mean woman?

More loosely, many people (particularly women) use the phrase to mean merely being approached socially with an attempt to get to know the woman.

I agree with this. A succesful "pick up" doesn't have to necessarily result in ending up in bed with that person. It can also refer to just getting a phone number of that particular person.

 

[guliver]

Well, If I want to change "picked up" in this context to another verb what verb would be? "flirt(ed) with"?

 

[5jj]

Didn't you mean woman?

It depends on the sexual orientation of the person concerned, and on the type of activity they wish to engage in with the person who picks them up. Whether it's for a casual drink, a pleasant evening chatting/ drinking, dining or and/or dancing, or a full-scale orgy, most heterosexual pople prefer to be 'picked up' by a person of the opposite sex, and homosexual people by a person of the same sex; bisexual people aren't bothered.

 

[5jj]

Well, If I want to change "picked up" in this context to another verb what verb would be? "flirt(ed) with"?

No.

You may flirt with someone if you are trying to pick them up or be picked up by them, but you may not.

Equally, you may flirt with someone when neither of you has any intention of following up the flirting with anything.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

It depends on the sexual orientation of the person concerned, and on the type of activity they wish to engage in with the person who picks them up. Whether it's for a casual drink, a pleasant evening chatting/ drinking, dining or and/or dancing, or a full-scale orgy, most heterosexual pople prefer to be 'picked up' by a person of the opposite sex, and homosexual people by a person of the same sex; bisexual people aren't bothered.

Sorry, I misread the original message, which said that young woman are waiting to be picked up (passive form).

 

[guliver]

No.

You may flirt with someone if you are trying to pick them up or be picked up by them, but you may not.

Equally, you may flirt with someone when neither of you has any intention of following up the flirting with anything.

So, "to be picked up" in a general idea means "just a chat with someone"

 

[5jj]

So, "to be picked up" in a general idea means "just a chat with someone"

Not necessarily. Have you read the earlier posts?

 

[guliver]

I understand your point of view, 5jj. I read it again. Thanks everybody for helping me. But, there is something not clear yet. I'm not sure a 100%. I can kind of understand the explanation of yours.

I just want one single word or verb that clarifies that phrase. I've noticed "to be picked up" is used (from that context) in a passive voice. So, "to be approached" would be the correct answer?

"young women sitting around in bars waiting to be approached".
​

Do you know what I mean?

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

"young women sitting around in bars waiting to be approached".
Do you know what I mean?

The approach is part of the pick-up, but "pick up" is a broader term. As mentioned before, to pick someone up can mean a lot of things, not only to approach someone, even though the approach is part of the pick-up.

 

[guliver]

The approach is part of the pick-up, but "pick up" is a broader term. As mentioned before, to pick someone up can mean a lot of things, not only to approach someone, even though the approach is part of the pick-up.

Hmmm... so, " to chat, talk, flirt, approach someone" is part of the pick-up, hahaha! It's funny.... But I'm trying to find another verb that means the same thing, you know??? Pick up is a phrasal verb......

 

[5jj]

Hmmm... so, " to chat, talk, flirt, approach someone" is part of the pick-up, hahaha! It's funny.... But I'm trying to find another verb that means the same thing, you know??? Pick up is a phrasal verb......

That it's a phrasal verb does not mean that there is automatically a one-word verb that is synonymous. I am fairly sure there isn't. When I was at school back in the 1950s, phrasal verbs (only they weren't called that then) were disapproved of, and we had exercises in which we had to replace them with 'better' single-word verbs. That would just not be possible nowadays.

(Though perhaps it would Schoolmasters like the ones I had would not consider the idea of the existence of something like 'picking up', so would not require its replacement.)

 

[guliver]

Thanks so much!!!!!!

 

[emsr2d2]

So, "to be picked up" in a general idea means "just a chat with someone"

As 5jj said, reading the other posts should answer this question. For me, if a female friend said "I was in a bar last night and a guy tried to pick me up", I would assume she meant that the man had approached her and attempted to make conversation which, either in tone or content, made it clear that he would rather like the evening to end with both parties in a state of undress, engaging in intimate relations in an unspecified location.

Either that, or he was a weight lifter trying to get some late-night practice. ;-)

 

[guliver]

As 5jj said, reading the other posts should answer this question. For me, if a female friend said "I was in a bar last night and a guy tried to pick me up", I would assume she meant that the man had approached her and attempted to make conversation which, either in tone or content, made it clear that he would rather like the evening to end with both parties in a state of undress, engaging in intimate relations in an unspecified location.

Either that, or he was a weight lifter trying to get some late-night practice. ;-)

You said: "

had approached her and attempted to make conversation"
​

In other words, the guy tried to seduce her.....

young women sitting around in bars waiting to be picked up = be seduced (by a guy or man)

Other examples:

Who are you anyway? Are you trying to pick me up? (are you trying to seduce me?)

How to pick up a girl in a bar (how to seduce a girl....?)

No, I never picked up anybody in my life.


Am I wrong?

 

[emsr2d2]

"Seduce" has a rather different connotation in my mind. If a man tried to seduce me, I would expect him to buy me flowers, take me to expensive restaurants, find out what my favourite perfume is and then buy me a bottle of it and leave it on my front doorstep, that kind of thing. Seduction usually takes a bit more time and effort than a simple "pick up" and the intended result is normally more of a potential long-term relationship, rather than a rather tawdry one-night stand.

 

[guliver]

So, when you read this "how to pick up a girl" (in a magazine or advertisement) what do you understand about this?

And then "young women sitting around in bars waiting to be picked up.

What these women expect to?

 

[5jj]

So, when you read this "how to pick up a girl" (in a magazine or advertisement) what do you understand about this?

And then "young women sitting around in bars waiting to be picked up.

What these women expect to?

SoothingDave, Chicken Sandwich, konungursvia, emsr2d2 and I have given our responses. Are you going to keep this up all week, ignoring what we have written?