Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 November 25

= November 25 =

Formula One (F1) and picking up a girl
I have a crush on a girl that likes Formula One, but I know nothing about it. What can I say to bring up a conversation about F1? Many thanks! --SolliGwaa (talk) 19:31, 25 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Max Mosley's (well-publicised) bedroom activities might be a useful jumping-off point, as it were. Tevildo (talk) 19:55, 25 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Don't pretend to know much about it - because what little you can learn will run out after about 30 seconds of conversation.  Come clean.  Ask to be taught. Something like: "I've always been fascinated by fast cars - I heard you were a formula I nut - maybe you could tell me more about it"...that would be kinda refreshing wouldn't it? SteveBaker (talk) 21:59, 25 November 2014 (UTC)


 * And you might learn something interesting in the process. Expand your horizons, as it were. &#8209;&#8209; Mandruss  &#9742;  22:05, 25 November 2014 (UTC)


 * You have a crush on a girl who likes F1. Calling her an it won't help in your quest. μηδείς (talk) 22:08, 25 November 2014 (UTC)


 * The OP did not call the girl an it Medeis. Your pedantry is out of place and insulting. --ColinFine (talk) 00:41, 26 November 2014 (UTC)


 * ...But fully within character... -- Jayron  32  03:09, 26 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Are you demanding apologies for my linking to F1 and recommending the OP not call people thats? μηδείς (talk) 03:39, 26 November 2014 (UTC)


 * if you want to pick her up, don't talk to her about F1. Talk to her about her - and, more importantly, listen. --NellieBly (talk) 07:36, 26 November 2014 (UTC)


 * But he's trying to do exactly that. "Liking F1" is "about her" - and if that's the first thing you know, then what would be a better way to get a conversation started.  As I said, above, if this isn't something you know much about, then asking questions and listening is the best conversational strategy. SteveBaker (talk) 16:47, 27 November 2014 (UTC)


 * If you want to talk to her about it,then something simple and easy would be a good start- such as 'Who's going to win next year's Championship?' or 'Who's your favourite driver?' 'How long have you been watching it?' 'Have you ever been to a race?' That should at least open up some conversation.And you're probably selling yourself short to say you know NOTHING about it-even non F1 fans could tell you Hamilton won this year's championship for Mercedes.

Lemon martini (talk) 17:31, 26 November 2014 (UTC)


 * The trouble is that if you're not into F1, then being told the name of next year's predicted winner is a conversational dead end...worse still, feigning interest is most likely to result in her saying "I think Brad Speedster has it this year...who do you think will win?"...and now you're screwed. You probably don't know the first thing about Mr Speedster - and you have no information with which to come back with a possibly winner of your own...so the conversation dries up at that point.  Don't ask questions where you don't care about the answers.  Instead, ask, more generally, to be taught about this topic.  That leaves her with plenty to tell you about - and leaves you to comfortably listen and offer intelligent commentary as you learn. SteveBaker (talk) 16:47, 27 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Depends on what continent you're on, I'm betting. Mingmingla (talk) 19:30, 26 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I agree. As a non-F1 fan, I know that Mercedes make cars...and that's about it.  I've never heard of "Hamilton". SteveBaker (talk) 16:47, 27 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Just don't mention Dick Trickle, since that's NASCAR, and hardly the words to get a girl in a romantic mood. :-) StuRat (talk) 20:24, 26 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Watching motorsport can take a bit of Will Power if you're not really into it. If you have Facebook, you could try liking a few F1 news sites so that you can get immersed in the sport. Hack (talk) 03:40, 28 November 2014 (UTC)


 * Hey, original poster! The best way to learn about Formula One racing is to ask the girl!  Just be sure to swat up some details from our article Formula One, then from resources on its reference list, so your questions are intelligent ones (like "who enforces Formula One rules?" or "do the automakers really put much money into Formula One racing?") that show you have genuine interest in the topic.  This isn't exclusive to women, everyone opens up and starts "sharing" once someone asks them to hold forth on a topic near and dear to them by asking intelligent questions.  My wife has suffered through several of my dissertations on things I think I know enough about to dissert upon. loupgarous (talk) 00:03, 29 November 2014 (UTC)

Don't bluff. A sports fan can always tell when someone pretends to be knowledgable and it's really irritating. If you want to use F1 as the basis for kicking off a conversation, which isn't a bad idea, be up front that you don't know much about it, and ask what she likes about it, in an open-minded, not critical manner. You'll comes across as honest and interested in her. Both of which are pluses. --Dweller (talk) 13:47, 1 December 2014 (UTC)