Life

Here's How Millennials Really Talk About Dating

by Laken Howard

Have you ever wondered how your peers talk about their sex and dating lives behind closed doors? Is the sexy talk riddled with emojis galore and awful innuendos? Well thanks to a new study, us nosy people can finally glean some insight into how our friends discuss the birds and the bees. So how do Millennials talk about dating when no one is watching?

Blend, a group messaging app, analyzed public group chats of 200,000 Millennial users to find out how we really talk about dating and hookups. As it turns out, over one-third of all chats made mention of some sex-related lingo during the week of the study; clearly, Millennials aren't shy about their personal lives (at least among friends).

One of the most startling finds? It turns out that Millennial guys are actually more likely to mention dating apps (and presumably their resultant escapades). Seventy-nine percent of men using Blend mentioned a dating app, compared to only 21 percent of female users. So it looks like we can finally put that awful trope of 'gabbing girls talking about boys at a sleepover' to rest.

Here are seven other interesting tidbits uncovered in the data — this will probably have you dying to group chat your friends ASAP to discuss the findings. But first, check out the latest episode of Bustle's Sex and Relationships podcast, I Want It That Way:

1. Women Are More Likely To "Netflix & Chill"

Fifty-three percent of female users dropped the popular term, compared to a slightly smaller 47 percent of men. Either way, it's clear Netflix & Chill isn't leaving the sex lexicon anytime soon.

2. Men Apparently Still Say Words Like "Bone" And "Bang"

It's like we've been shoved into a time machine back to 2006. According to the data, of all mentions of the word "bang," 92 percent of them were from guys. And men must love little 4-letter words, because 96 percent of the time "bone" was used, the culprit was male. Please, make it stop.

3. Monday Is The Best Day To Discuss Hookups

Twenty-seven percent of the mentions of phrases like "DTF," "booty call," and "one-night stand" happen on Mondays, probably because we all have so much juicy gossip to dish post-weekend. Sundays are also a popular time to talk about sex, with 24 percent of the hookup-related gab happening on brunch day.

4. ...But No One Talks About Sex On Hump Day

Ironic, isn't it? A measly five percent of the mentions of sex-related phrases were on Wednesday. I guess we're all just too busy buried in our mid-week work to have a friendly chat about our latest romp in the sheets.

5. Tinder Is The Most Popular Dating App

No surprise there — 42 percent of users mentioned Tinder in their chats. A slightly distant second place goes to Bumble, at 25 percent. Rounding out the top five most popular dating apps are Hinge (16 percent), Grindr (15 percent), and Squad (2 percent).

6. Men Have More Friends With Benefits

Of all the mentions of FWB, men are behind them 82 percent of the time. Perhaps not surprisingly, men are also more likely to say they're "DTF" — 88 percent of mentions of the term were by men. Guys also used "booty call" 70 percent of the time, with women using the term the other 30 percent of the time. Hey, no shame in getting a little action, no matter your gender.

7. The Heart Eyes Emoji is Most Popular

When you think of sexual emojis, the first one to come to mind is probably the phallic eggplant, but it actually wasn't the king of emojis Millennials associate with dating apps. Heart eyes reigned supreme with 16 percent, closely followed by the winky face at 14 percent. The rest of the top five: the hug (11 percent), eggplant (6 percent) and kissing lip print (5 percent).

Images: Andrew Zaeh for Bustle; Giphy (7)