As history as shown, I am a very bad man....

I love the random encounter, the two minute chat.

Engage with interest. And be interesting. Try it.

Awwww c'mon - it's fun. If it's harmless, it's harmless. Intent is the issue here. A brief flirty conversation is nothing other than that, unless one wants to take it further. Free will rules.

@Palindromeman My integrity and respecting my relationship matters more to me.

I can “engage with interest and be interesting” without leading someone to believe I am available. ?

@BlueWave Indeed; flirting is simply one way of engaging with another human being. In my book, anyway. We all negotiate our ways through life. I have mine and you have yours - neither better nor worse. Enjoy it and don't hurt anyone.

Then you are one of my mob.

Copy that.

Awww c'mon, give it a go. Just be playful. You will be amazed the responses you will get.

Exactmundo. It is an art. And the more you do it - the more confident you become - the better you are at it. I am a fan of screwball comedies; flirting is critical to those movies.

Brilliant post. Love it.

This so much.... what some take as a flirt is "hitting" on to someone else, depending on depth of the exchange. Late dh's best friend claimed that I'd "hit on him" back in the day, back when I first became enamored of my future husband.
I hated to break it to him but no such thing happened but he kept repeating the idea when we'd be having a reminiscing fest.
If that was the case I was hitting on tons of people, which in my history is rare. must just come off flirty or something.

@constancinople understood, and I never did this in a professional or work related context. But I always respected boundaries, even in bars or at parties. Just like anything else, if you do it right, it can be fun.

I have issues with equating flirting with sex (which it certainly can be). If I see someone that I find attractive and interesting, I will flirt with them because I would like to get to know them.

Who gets to determine what's flirting? If I'm friendly, one could interpret that as flirting. Human interaction is defiantly not that cut and dry.

The definition is directly from the dictionary. Take it up with Webster.

@RoseyRose I don't have any objection to the definition although I think it is way too rigid and doesn't allow for nuance nor does it take into account context, if we didn't take things into context we'd all walk around offended at the most trivial of things (i'll site examples if you'd like). The second part of your comment I am also curious about, it seems that, perhaps, you are focusing on the first part of the definition a not the second part when you state that if you're in a monogamous relationship you shouldn't be flirting outside that relationship ever. Do you feel that a monogamous couple could still be monogamous and still allow for freedom of expression, including flirting, without it being wrong in your eyes?

@Willreef I actually find the definition vague but then exonerating itself by specifying it is not to be taken seriously. It IS the nuance and context that would define whatever said as a flirtation. Then I am interjecting my personal opinion into the definition. An example - A good ole boy at the ticket counter ogles my cleavage and says nice rack, then goes about his way. VS I pick up two full glasses and a bucket of ice at the bar to take back to my hotel room, Glass in each hand and I cradle the bucket against me with my arm. A gentleman approaches and offers to carry the bucket for me. I thank him and refuse, I can manage I say. He says yes madame, I am sure you manage very well, I offer only because a woman's breast should never have to be so cold. Followed by the most honest expression of admiration. The first being a crude and tasteless verbal vomit, the later That was a flirt.

As to the second part, correct, it is opinion not definition. Directly to the phrasing of the question, indicating that there should be a different outcome of how far one goes if one is single verses one in a relationship. To me it sounded sneaky, disingenuous. Spurring a guarded defensive. A monogamous relationship defines just that mono, one.

To your question, "Do you feel that a monogamous couple could still be monogamous and still allow for freedom of expression, including flirting, without it being wrong in your eyes?" My answer is nuance and communication. If he says to the girl behind the ticket counter, "Nice rack" his significant other standing next to him would be humiliated. Whereas the significant other who would witness the defender of cold breasts could well be proud of his gallantry.

BUT.... BUT... you ask in my eyes... which gives a very simple answer. My husband was a voracious flirt. I taught him how. I loved to watch the effect he had on girls/women/. Me? I tend to banter.

@RoseyRose Personally, I haven't seen you reference much of any flirting, I have seen you reference reference to a personal trait, and for the most part in a non-creative, objectifying manner. Correct me if I'm incorrect. Even in the instance where you say "I offer only because a woman's breast should never have to be so cold." There is still a reference to a biological part, which I personally would consider the shallow end of the flirting pool. More later...

I kindly word or comment never hurts. It depends on your definition of flirting, and your intent - in my view.