The basic formula is that you say someone is “a 10 but” and then follow it with some sort of dealbreaker. At first it was just friends posing fictional scenarios for each other to respond to. I might post “she’s a 10 but she pronounces the l in salmon.” Then my friends could respond with her new rating based on that quirk. (She’s a 3. If you pronounce that l, we can’t talk. I am working on unpacking oppressive linguistic biases, but I can’t get over that one.) Then, it grew to be sort of a self-deprecating thing — TikTokers pointing out their low-stakes toxic traits. As an example: While they’re often silly things, some include some real red flags. For example, one of my fellow Rioters suggested this bookish gem: He’s a 10 but his bookshelves only have Ayn Rand. — alexis (@alexisnicole47) June 26, 2022 Obviously, there are lots of ways of riffing on the formula. You could pull out the Uno reverse and flip the punchline. My aforementioned colleague also identified some relationship green flags: He’s a 3 but his home library has a ladder. Of course, bookish Twitter took the idea farther by using the formula to describe book characters. Another Rioter demonstrated a comics example: He’s a 10 but he’s got daddy issues and a secret cave. Billionaire Bruce sounds a lot less attractive when you phrase it that way. — brooke (@ladyefron) June 23, 2022 — cat is waiting for st vol. 2 | silverstone 🏁 (@corecobalt) June 23, 2022 — emma mayer (@emmamayer1996) June 21, 2022 — terry (@sherlockify) June 24, 2022 — maddy weinberg (@weinandcheez) June 22, 2022 — the moon’s wife (@bookishseawitch) June 21, 2022 — Mollie Goodfellow (@hansmollman) June 20, 2022 — Vinny Thomas (@vinn_ayy) June 21, 2022 — The Shirley Jackson Society (@SJ_Society) June 23, 2022 — anna maría (@onlyannamaria) June 23, 2022 — hatsune mitski (@zephanijong) June 21, 2022
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