The Best Dating Advice From Your 'Friends'

When we're struggling through the trials and tribulations of singledom, it's natural to go to your friends for advice. And after ignoring their advice, turn to Google and pop culture. Mixing all these ideas together, we can only come to one conclusion: my favorite show to binge-watch, Friends , is where we should get our dating advice.

The six friends of Friends often sought out each other's counsel when it came to dating, whether they were pursuing a new relationship, trying to mend an old one, or hooking up illicitly with one another. Like your actual friends, sometimes their advice was a bit misguided, but it's still fun to watch them philosophize about love. At the end of the day, what have you got to lose? After all, all of them ended up happily with someone. (Or they were Joey Tribbiani. What he lacked in intelligence, he made up for in dates.)

So, do you need some questions answered? Having a hard time working through some issues with your significant other? I looked through the archives and picked out some insightful pieces of advice from Ross, Rachel, and the gang. Thanks to your friends, you should definitely have it all figured out.

"When a guy breaks up with his girlfriend, what is an appropriate amount of time to wait before you make a move?"

Phoebe: "I'd say about a month."

Monica: "I'd say three or four."

Joey: "Half an hour."

Monica also doesn't think you should make a move if it's your assistant. And most of all, heed Joey's advice and make sure he likes you. If he doesn't like you, it's a moo point.

"What do you do when your significant other is mad at you for referring to them by your ex's name?"

We like to refer to this as "pulling a Ross." I'd like to think that most of us wouldn't make this mistake during something important like, say, your wedding day, but who hasn't slipped up and said the wrong name in the bedroom? Still a mess, still the worst.

Take Rachel's advice on this one, and just give them anything they want. Unless that anything is to get rid of your ex and close friend who you're still in love with. Actually, in that scenario, I think you have bigger issues to work through.

"What does 'we should do this again' REALLY mean?"

Knowing the language of dating is an essential life skill, and the cast of Friends is definitely fluent. According to Monica, "we should do this again" means "you will never see me naked." Phoebe thinks "I think we should see other people" means "Ha ha, I already am."

And as for Joey, a regular professor in dating linguistics? He thinks "it's not you" means "it IS you" and "you're such a nice guy" means "I'm gonna be dating leather-wearing alcoholics and complaining about them to you."

"My partner wants to cuddle in bed at night, but eventually I want my space so I can get some sleep."

In this scenario, you consult a little trick that Ross invented, called the Hug and Roll. You wait for your partner to drift off to sleep, then you hug them, and gently roll them over to their respective side of the bed. Hug and roll. Works every time.

"How do you make someone think that you want to have sex with them?"

For legitimate reasons or otherwise, take Rachel's expert advice: "Just act like everything around you turns you on." Rub every inanimate object across your body. Macaroni and cheese. Knives. EVERYTHING.

"I think I have commitment issues, but I really want to get over it and make my relationship work. What should I do?"

For this, we seek Joey's infinite wisdom: "Jump off the high dive, stare down the barrel of the gun, pee into the wind!" So basically face your fears, but don't actually pee into the wind. That won't change anything.

Image: NBC (1), Giphy (6)