Be careful with your pineapples (Picture: Getty Images)
Have you ever used the produce in your shopping basket to send secret messages to other singles?
Yeah, us neither, but apparently it’s a thing people have be doing here and there since the early 2000s.
Not unlike the handkerchief code, this so-called supermarket dating is said to involve the use of different types of fruit, arranged in certain ways.
Depending on how you display your wares, it’s said to send out a signal to others in the know that you’re single and ready to mingle.
Some say having bananas facing up to the ceiling in your shopping trolley is supposed to indicate that you’re single, and an upside-down pineapple shows that you’re a swinger looking for another couple.
If you’re feeling very forward, putting a peach in somebody else’s trolley signifies that you’re interested in them.
Although we have to wonder whether at this point, striking up a conversation might be better than a drive-by peach drop?
And while the handkerchief code can be traced back to actual events in queer history, people on Reddit have been discussing the legitimacy of this fruit code communication. Are people actually using the fruit and veg aisle to find love?
Under a post that asks: ‘Singles night at supermarket, urban myth?’, one person commented: ‘The urban myth 20 years ago was a single banana prominently displayed meant you were single.
Bananas ey? (Picture: Getty Images)
‘I’ve never noticed what other people are doing with their bananas though nor have I been flirted with at the supermarket. Try it, but don’t expect results.’
However, others said the carefully arranged fruit had sparked romance: ‘A friend of mine and his girlfriend are into unicorn hunting, and they’ve told me that having bananas on top of your shopping is a sign that you’re open to being propositioned by a couple looking for a third.
‘No idea if it’s true or not, but they were adamant.’
Someone else said it was specific to the queer community: ‘Banana up… was to say a top, down ya a bottom!’ [sic]
So it seems the rules of the code are pretty subjective.
Former Bachelor star Brittany Hockley previously discussed grocery dating codes on her podcast Life Uncut.
The 35-year-old referred to it as a ‘single club’, and explained the aforementioned banana, peach and pineapple rules.
Of course, upside-down pineapples have long been associated with the swinging scene, with people using the fruit to subtly represent their sexual preferences in countless ways – from doormats to earrings.
The supermarket singles code
Upright bananas: You’re single and ready to mingle
Bananas with the tips down: You’re not looking for sex today
A pineapple the right way around: You’re a woman interested in finding a man
An upside-down pineapple: You’re a swinger looking for a couple
Putting a peach in someone’s trolley: You’re basically flirting
When it comes to the likelihood that you’ll meet someone special in the store according to YouGov, just 15% of people have met their current or most recent partners by chance while ‘out and about’.
This could apply to a range of activities, from clubbing to grocery shopping, which means the proportion of people who met their paramour while down the shops is likely far smaller.
More: Lifestyle
So while it’s worth a shot, don’t go putting all your eggs – or fruit – in this one basket – especially since it’s safe to assume that not everybody will know about this so-called secret code.
So if the bananas don’t work maybe try using your words and starting a conversation?
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Be careful with your pineapples…