Online dating spells the end of Britain’s lonely-hearts ads

Mr Darcy, it turns out, was undemanding. In “Pride and Prejudice” Jane Austen implies that he is a picky paramour, since he likes a beloved to have “fine eyes”, “a thorough knowledge of music” and a mind improved “by extensive reading”. But read actual Georgian “lonely heart” advertisements and it is clear that Mr Darcy was pretty lax. Others were much fussier, demanding, among other things, that their beloveds be “not fat”, have “a good set of Teeth”, and a bosom that is “full, plump, firm and white”. Britain’s affair with lonely-hearts ads is more than 300 years old but it is now all but over. Another infatuation, for dating apps, has taken their place. This year, for the first time, Tinder is running ads in British cinemas, which tempt viewers to “just go out and find” someone. Modern Britons have adopted the apps’ turns of phrase (“swipe right” has entered the vernacular); some claim an addiction to them.