smirt

English

Etymology

Blend of smoke +‎ flirt. Apparently coined in Ireland following the ban on smoking in pubs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smɜː(ɹ)t/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)t

Verb

smirt (third-person singular simple present smirts, present participle smirting, simple past and past participle smirted)

1. (intransitive, UK, Ireland) To chat up or flirt with (someone) while smoking outside a pub. [from 2004]
   • 2006 March 25, “BURNING PASSION IN CIGGIE SHELTERS”, in The Scottish Daily Record:

     Smirting - a cross between smoking and flirting - is already a huge hit in Dublin where the ban has been in place for two years

   • 2007 July 2, Clover Stroud, “Smoke signals: new dating paths?”, in Daily Mail‎^[1]:

     I have dated three guys that I smirted with, and one of them is now my current boyfriend.

   • 2008 July 1, “Unintended consequences of the smoking ban”, in BBC NEWS:

     Smirting is believed to have started in Temple Bar, Dublin, in 2004

   • 2012, GN Connolly, “How Society Treats Smoking”, in Israel Journal of Health Policy Research:

     As a result, despite the ban, the smoking rate in Ireland has been stuck at around 28% and the expected decline in cigarette consumption never materialized. A new social practice quickly emerged called “smirting”, where young Dubliners smoke and flirt with members of the opposite sex

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