friend zone

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See also: friendzone and friend-zone

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Popularized by a 1994 episode of the American sitcom Friends.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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friend zone (plural friend zones)

  1. (slang) The situation in which one is viewed by a potential partner as a platonic friend, which complicates the initiation of a romantic relationship.
    • 1996, Chris Rock: Bring the Pain, Chris Rock (actor):
      Every platonic friend I got is some woman I was tryin' to fuck, I made a wrong turn somewhere, and ended up in the friend zone.
    • 2005, Terry Dennis, The Manual:
      Once in a while, you will find yourself stuck in the friend zone. Don't panic, you are not alone.
    • 2007, Helen Salter, Does Snogging Count as Exercise?:
      “Stuck in the Friend Zone,” said Sasha wisely, although I don't think she's dipped a toe in the Friend Zone in her life.

Coordinate terms

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Descendants

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  • Italian: friendzone

Translations

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Verb

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friend zone (third-person singular simple present friend zones, present participle friend zoning, simple past and past participle friend zoned)

  1. (slang, transitive) To classify as a friend, without any possibility of a romantic relationship.
    • 2015, Wendy Higgins, chapter 1, in Sweet Temptation, HarperCollins, →ISBN:
      The bloke tries to get her attention back, but I've friendzoned him. Poor guy. I do feel bad for the ones who have to try so hard.
    • 2019, Ira Trivedi, Sachin Bhatia, chapter 1, in The Desi Guide to Dating, Harper Collins, →ISBN:
      While being friendzoned is not a problem, what can be a problem is if it's not clear to both people that ONLY friendship and nothing more is on offer.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani (1994 November), “The One with the Blackout”, in Friends, season 1, episode 7 (television production):It's never gonna happen. [] Because you waited too long to make your move, and now you're in the friend zone.

Further reading

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English friend zone.

Noun

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friend zone f (plural friends zones)

  1. Alternative spelling of friendzone
    • 2019 May 9, Pauline Machado, “Pourquoi la fuck zone est bien plus laide que la friend zone”, in Terra Femina[1]:
      L’autre différence avec la friend zone, au-delà de la volonté parfois oppressante de rapport physique, c’est aussi le manque d’honnêteté.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English friend zone.

Noun

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friend zone f (invariable)

  1. Alternative spelling of friendzone