Modern dating is a brutal left-swiping madhouse, and the big question is, has the humble pick-up line gone extinct in 2025?

It used to be normal to approach someone you didn’t know in a bar and roll out a pick-up line, but then dating apps launched in 2012, and we’ve all forgotten how to speak to each other in person.

Pick-up lines that Boomers and Gen X popularized are in grave danger of going extinct.

Lines like “I’m lost, can you give me directions to your heart?” have been replaced by a Tinder message at 2 am asking, “You up?”

It hit me that things had become dire when I was out with a mate recently – an objectively hot single guy with a bed frame and basic manners, so a complete catch – and he was too shy to approach women in person.

We were at a trendy bar, you know, the kind where the cocktail names are puns, and he pointed out that he found a girl attractive.

When I suggested he approach her and, I don’t know, start a conversation or attempt to flirt with her, he was mortified.

“What and look like a creep? I’ll see if she’s on any of the apps,” he said.

He then proceeded to flick through three dating apps looking for the woman’s profile while we sat at a bar within metres of her.

He absolutely didn’t have a trusty pick-up line that he could whip out to wow her with, which made me wonder: are pick-up lines, like skinny jeans, simply over?

To see if this was just a one-off or a symptom of a larger dating epidemic, news.com.au hit the streets of Bondi to find out.

We even slipped, slopped, and slapped for the occasion and asked the Bondi-goers in the sun the big question: “Are pick-up lines dead in 2025?”

Two mates walking along stopped to chat, and the guy in a matching shirt-and-top combo broke the news to us that pick-up lines are becoming rare.

He diplomatically said that pick-up lines are “kind of” going extinct, but added there’s still a group of people using them.

“I mean, you get, like, straight lads taking a piss-take and hoping a girl will let them into their knickers,” he said.

His friend chimed in, adding that she’s not actually against pick-up lines – she loves a dad joke – but she does have some caveats.

“It depends on how cheesy it is and funny,” she said.

Fair.

A Gen Zer living the dream and wandering around in activewear in the middle of the day gave us some hope that pick-up lines aren’t dying out.

“I don’t think pick-up lines will ever be dead,” she proclaimed.

So does she have one?

“That is just for men. The girls don’t have to bother with that,” she said.

Meanwhile, two mates walking along had completely different perspectives on it. Both agreed that pick-up lines were dead, and the girl argued for good reason.

“I do, and I think they’re sleazy,” she said.

While her mate, who was shirtless and had as many tattoos as Pete Davidson, agreed pick-up lines are over but in a way where you could tell he thought that answer was really obvious.

That “duh, they are dead” theme continued.

Two 20-year-olds who stopped to have a chat were quick to declare that not only were pick-up lines dead, but they’d never even heard one muttered out loud.

Three moms on a hot girl walk laughed at the idea that anyone would still be using pick-up lines in 2025.

One woman shook her head in horror at the idea of a man even daring to roll one out, and things were looking dire.

Occasionally, though, someone would admit they didn’t think pick-up lines were as dead as a former The Voice winner’s career.

One Millennial argued that pick-up lines aren’t dead; they’re just being texted, not said out loud.

“I don’t think they’re dead. I think on dating apps, I really rate a good pick-up line,” she said.

“Obviously nothing too dirty!”

She even launched into a full-fledged defence of pick-up lines and argued that, if done correctly, they can be a great, lighthearted icebreaker.

And it seems some people agree, with Racing NSW launching a pick-up line competition over the weekend to promote its Golden Mingle singles event taking place at the Golden Eagle at Randwick on Saturday, November 1.

The competition invites punters to share their best pick-up line for the chance to win $10,000, though whether the winning line will have any chance of success with the thousands of Gen Z and Millennial women who will don coloured badges (green for single, red for taken and yellow for ‘it’s complicated’) at the Mingle this weekend remains to be seen.

So are pick-up lines dead?

Not entirely, but they’re dying out rapidly, and they certainly haven’t been replaced by anything better.

Unless you find “Are you up?” particularly romantic.