Dating, decoded

Signals, texting, apps, first dates and situationships, from both sides.

Seven honest signs, from both sides, and the one text that settles it.

The three-hour rule is dead. Here's what actually reads as keen, cool or careless, from both sides of the phone.

No "so, what do you do?" Questions that get a real answer, start a real conversation and tell you whether there's a second date in it.

App fatigue is real. Seven changes that make swiping feel less like a second job, and more like a way to meet someone.

Everyone can list the red ones. These are the small, quiet signs that someone is genuinely good to be with.

Most couples still meet the old-fashioned way. Here's how to make "real life" actually work, without hanging around bars hoping.

It's cold, it's dark, and suddenly everyone wants someone to watch films with. How to enjoy it, and how to tell a winter fling from the real thing.

Hot then cold. Likes your stories but not your texts. Nine confusing moves, what they usually mean, and the one rule that cuts through all of them.

Free, cheap, treat yourselves and splurge. Ideas for first dates, fifth dates and couples who've done the same restaurant forty times.

They were there, then they weren't. Why people vanish, what not to do, and the one message worth sending.

After two dates, a text is fine. After two years, it isn't. What to say at every stage, and what never to say.

Flirting isn't a talent or a line. It's three small habits anyone can learn, even if you blush at a barista.