Are My Moves Putting Me In The Friend Zone?

That next compliment you pay her could end any chance of ever hooking up.

“It’s never gonna happen…you waited too long to make your move and now you’re in the ‘friend zone’. Ross, you’re mayor of the zone.” And with that, modern-day philosopher and sandwich aficionado, Joey Tribbiani, created a monster. In that 1994 Friends episode, The One With The Blackout, he coined a term that would go on to strike fear into the hearts of all warm-blooded males around the globe: the friend zone.

Once a man is placed into a girl’s friend zone, rubbing shoulders with other guys she likes hanging out with but has absolutely no interest in ever hooking up with, he’s got as much chance as a bowl-bound goldfish of escaping. Like said goldfish, you can see the girl you lust after but cannot touch her; the longer you’re trapped there, the fatter, sadder and smellier you get and, ultimately, you’ll end up swimming around in mind-rotting circles until either another ladyfish is dropped into your environment, or you flop out on to the kitchen floor in an act of total resignation.

So it’s time we found the bright green ‘exit’ sign in every single friend zone out there. To guide you away from danger, who better to listen to than these beautiful friends of FHM, primed with the advice to help you find a way out.

What the hell is the friend zone?