Poetic language may win a woman's heart: study

Trying to get a date with a woman? Using metaphors when you compliment her could do the trick, say scientists who suggest that poetic language may make a man seem more attractive.

"We found that the use of metaphorical as opposed to prosaic language by men in compliments is perceived by women as indicative of creativity and intelligence," said researchers from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

The study, published in the journal Nature, found that metaphors like 'Your smile is a naughty goblin' are likely to be more enticing than straightforward compliments like 'your lips are so sexy'.

"This study provides the first evidence that women find men who typically use novel metaphorical language to compliment appearance more attractive than those using prosaic language or complimenting possession," researchers said.

"The preference observed for metaphorical compliments targeting a woman's appearance compared to possessions may be indicative that this generates greater sexual attraction towards a potential mate," they said.

Researchers asked about 36 men and 9 women to draw up a total of 163 "verbal compliments", 'The Sun' reported.

These lines were then shown alongside images of men. Female participants were told that the men had been asked to write down a compliment after imagining a first visit to a potential girlfriend's house.

The women were then asked to rank the attractiveness of the man in the picture on a scale of one to 10.

Researchers found that the men who used bigger metaphors were rated as much more attractive than their less articulate peers.