Modern Romance

in·sin·u·ate

/inˈsinyo͞oˌāt/

verb

1. 1.

   suggest or hint (something bad or reprehensible) in an indirect and unpleasant way.

   
   

   "he was insinuating that she had slept her way to the top"

   
   

   synonyms:

   imply, suggest, hint, intimate, indicate, let it be known, give someone to understand; informalmake out "he insinuated that she lied"

2. 2.

   maneuver oneself into (a position of favor or office) by subtle manipulation.

   
   

   "she seemed to be taking over, insinuating herself into the family"

   
   

   synonyms:

   worm one's way into, ingratiate oneself with, curry favor with;

This was one of thirty vocabulary words my ninth graders had to know for their midterm exam. Rather than have them regurgitate the definition, I asked a question that included the word in context: "How might you INSINUATE to a crush that you'd like to spend some time together?"

Because it was pretty easy to infer the word's definition based on context clues, it turned out to be a pretty easy question that pretty much everyone answered correctly. But what I didn't realize was just how much the answers would tell me about the art of romance. Here are my several answers to this question, thematically categorized.

BASIC

Asking the person to do an activity or go on a date with you.

I might ask my crush if they wanted to hang out.

"Hey, what are you up to this weekend?"

You could hint that you'd like to spend more time together by saying, "This night was really fun and I enjoyed spending this night you."

By asking when she's free

DIRECT

Say, "You are pretty cute, you know."

You are pretty and cute. I was wondering if you wanted to go for a drink sometime. (He's fourteen, so I'll assume he means a Starbucks or something.)

SHY

You could send her a secret note.

EXTREMELY SHY

Send an e-mail through a bunch of shell accounts, so she somewhat knows it is you, but not a hundred percent. You can claim the e-mail was yours or you could say it was someone else's e-mail if something goes wrong.

SMOOTH

One could slyly hint at going to get food or something of that nature.

"I'm kinda bored because all my friends are on vacation and I have nobody to hang out with."

"Oh, we could meet up and do some homework together."

Say something like, "We gotta study more often if we're gonna pass this quiz."

You might say that you think their dog is really cute you'd like to meet the dog, hinting that you'd like to spend time with them.

You might show your crush a bad test score and try to get yourself invited over to "study" with them.

TRENDY

You could give them your snap and start a streak. (Had to ask around about this one. Apparently, it refers to Snapchat, which is a big part of romantic courting for a of teenagers. I'm so out of touch.)

CONCERNING, but SELF-AWARE

I would insinuate this by following her around anywhere she goes. That might come off as a little creepy though.