
Negging has to be one of the lowest forms of communication — and one of the most manipulative ways of trying to attract someone. If you're not familiar with negging as a dating technique, it's essentially giving someone a negative jab to make them feel insecure and, therefore, more grateful for your attention. It might have a backhanded complimented tied in, like: "Wow, you're really brave to wear a shirt like that." Negging came from a controversial dating handbook for men called The Game — and has been messing with people ever since.
"[Negging] is a harmful way to treat another person because it demonstrates a contempt for the other person and their feelings," Christine Baumgartner, dating/relationship coach at The Perfect Catch, tells Bustle. "It is dismissive and degrading to the other person and can eventually undermine their self-confidence. Usually the person doing the negging is insecure in their ability to attract [someone] without putting them down. They also don’t feel ‘good enough’ on their own: they need to put other people down in order to feel better about themselves."
It's ridiculous, but it happens all the time. In fact, a recent AskReddit thread had users sharing their negging stories. Here are some of the worst negs, because some people just want to watch the world burn.
1
This Unnecessary Commentary
That's either the worst neg ever or a very open admittance of a preference, but either way just STFU.
2
This Faux Surprise
Acting surprised that a woman is smart? That's sure to work for you every time, right?
5
This (Lack Of) Love At First Sight
This is such a bizarre and niche way to neg someone.
10
This Series Of Failure
So many terrible, terrible options there. There may be fish in the sea, but there is also a lot of trash.