Street voices
Janna
·
United States
"A red flag is the complete opposite of a green flag. It's when someone does something that's not that good, you know, especially in a relationship. It might make you not want to be with that person, toxic behavior, one might say. An example would be, girl, when we went out to dinner last night, he literally snapped at the waiter. He was so rude and treated the waiter like he was below him. That's such a red flag."
What it means
A red flag is a warning sign that something's off with a person, a situation, or a deal. It's the thing that makes you pause and think yeah, no, this could get messy. People use it loads in dating chat, but it works for jobs, friendships, contracts, pretty much anything that gives bad-vibes-before-the-disaster energy.
Usage examples
"He spent the whole first date talking about his ex. That is a massive red flag and she rang me straight after to debrief"
"He talked about his ex all night, which was a major red flag."
"The vague contract terms were a red flag we should not have ignored."
"Him saying all his exes were crazy by the second drink was such a red flag I was mentally ordering my Uber home."
"The salary looked decent, but them dodging every question about overtime was a proper red flag."
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Where it comes from
It comes from the literal red flag used as a danger warning for things like rough water, hazards, and stop signals in racing. Since red already screamed caution in English, red flag slid neatly into everyday talk for anything that feels off. Dating chat and social media then launched it into overdrive.
Other ways to say it
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