Does it seem like girls and boys are always touching each other? And if a guy has poked you recently or is currently doing so whenever you’re around him, you are probably wondering if it means anything.
It certainly does. A stranger would hardly poke you. Only a friend or someone looking to be one would register their intentions with even the remotest physical contact.
There’s a plethora of ways guys transmit their intention for friendship or something more. In this article, we will talk about poke. Not the Facebook poke, and what it means. Read on for 10 meanings you can read into a playful poke from a guy.
Let’s begin from the most obvious meaning to the more obscure ones. Note that these meanings have to be considered in relation to the circumstances and the context of your previous relationship with the guy. Now let’s go.
1. He Likes You
This is the most obvious meaning when a guy pokes you. And there’s nothing corny about the act either. It’s just a simple way of registering what a guy feels at the moment.
This is especially the meaning if he’s a guy you just met. Poking is a simple, unobtrusive way of letting a girl know, bruh, you are fun to be around though.
It is usually nothing more than that, a simple attraction. The guy would poke a guy that way too if it wasn’t such an awkward thing. Does it matter where he pokes you? It does.
A poke in sensitive places suggests something quite different from a casual register. If he pokes you in the arm, on the thigh where it’s clothed, or anywhere else that’s not erogenous, then this guy just likes you. Don’t get your hopes too high.
The likely circumstances:
This happens in a neutral setting where you are both alone, with other friends or on a date. You’ve both just met recently and are taking one day at a time.
2. It Means He’s Attracted To You
Let’s take things a level up in the touch-O-meter. When a guy pokes you it can also mean he is attracted to you, in a big way. That is, he doesn’t just like you, he is attracted to you in other ways. Every girl understands this attraction.
You may say he’s in love, is romantically attracted to you. There’s a whole range of attraction levels that a guy exhibits, a girl would just have to give it time to find out which it is.
Poking is a preliminary setup a guy uses to prompt you about what’s next. From poking, you can expect more stuff.
The intensity of the poke, the location of it, all can suggest the depth of interest. A slow poke that lingers means he is deeply attracted to you. He doesn’t just like you, he is into you.
The circumstances:
You’ve been seeing each other for a while. You are on a date and are alone, maybe in a car. It could also be in an open place. Poking doesn’t attract too much attention especially if the guy isn’t into public displays of affection.
3. He’s Showing His Superiority
A little psychology is appropriate here. Guys usually signal dominance by touching the girl. It’s a little thing they do to say, hey, I’m in charge here, listen to me.
There’s usually nothing aggressive about it either. So if you are with him in a group, sitting beside him and you were talking, to get your attention and make you listen to him, the guy would poke you.
This meaning is one of the most complicated here. It usually has a mix of other implications too. The guy would like you, be attracted to you, and care enough to signal that he wants to be your guy.
Your boyfriend would want to protect you, to do so he would assert himself. Guys are hunters by nature, and a hunter often displays a level of superiority over the prey.
Girls, don’t take this the wrong way, I’m just calling it as it is. Also, this reason is further reinforced if this is how he asserts himself with the rest of the girls he relates with in the group. Maybe when he sits, he takes up so much space with his legs wide open.
The circumstances:
This usually happens in public where there are other guys or girls. Especially if other girls who might like him are around you. He could poke you too if you just resolved an argument. No strings attached, he’s just a guy who’s showing you his boss.
4. He Is Copying You Or Someone
With this meaning, we dial things down a little again. Here, there’s no attraction really. The guy is simply mirroring what others do by poking you as you have a conversation.
There is some psychology to back this too. We all unconsciously mimic people around us when we are trying to ease into a new group. Or when we are nervous we usually do something that we feel is more confident to do.
So do not put too much weight on the act if you detect he may have poked you because there’s a lot of poking going on around you.
You’d have to add this bit in conjunction with other actions: he just doesn’t poke you because others do it in the group, he also mimics their speech pattern, hand gestures, and other mannerisms.
The circumstances:
This poke also usually happens in a group. If you are having an animated discussion like everyone in the group, then expect a poke from a guy.
5. He’s Trying To Get Your Attention
Here there’s nothing deep. You just have to wait to see what follows the poke. This meaning is neck-and-neck with the first and second meanings mentioned earlier.
When a guy tries to get your attention, it can mean he’s attracted to you. It can also mean he wants to let you know he’s attracted to you.
To get things rolling a guy will have to indicate interest. Poking you is one-way guys do this. As earlier stated, you have to put into consideration certain factors like, have you known each other for a long time? Have you detected chemistry?
Any of these factors will allow you to tell if he’s only getting your attention to merely make a point and move on, or he wants you to know he digs you for real.
The circumstances:
If this happens in public, then he may just be trying to get your attention about something. It happens if you were in a discussion with the guy. It is sometimes an offhanded, unconscious gesture.
6. He’s Relaxed Around You
A guy would poke you in the middle of a conversation if it feels so right around you. And this doesn’t have to be intimate in any way.
This may be hard for some girls to believe but guys also do pure friendship where they just want to vibe with you. In this case, they’d fool around with you as they’d do with their guy friends.
Guys do a lot of tapping, and playful punching when they’re with their friends. If you are a girl getting the playful poke, be glad. You have been admitted into the elite circle of bros.
The circumstances:
You get this kind of poke in a relaxed situation. Like being out in the park, in class before your lectures begin. It happens when you are a girl in the midst of guy friends and you are probably closest to this particular one.
7. He’s Simply Flirting
It can be a lot of work to tell what a girl thinks about a guy, especially if said guy is you. While men are more logical in their acts and intentions, girls are more given to mixed signals.
This is actually the point of this article in the first place: girls think there’s so much extraordinary thing going on underneath a poke. This is not always so.
A girl can usually tell if it’s more than just a poke, all you have to do is watch what the guy does after.
If he’s flirting, you can tell he is because this is one meaning of a playful poke. It is easier to flirt with just a single gesture than come up with beautiful poetic texts.
The circumstances:
He is a new guy on the block. He is a guy you just met in the supermarket who offers to help with carrying your groceries.
You try to ignore him and go on but he pokes you from behind to remind you that, hey, I’m not letting you off that easily.
8. He Wants To Get Down And Dirty
You know we were coming to this, didn’t you? Most girls can tell if this is what the guy wants from the next three seconds after a poke.
It’s in the body language, the look in his eyes, and the way he tilts his body towards you. It’s all a lot of signs. And it all begins with this notorious poke. Think of what it was like all of 2007 when Facebook poke was a thing.
Perhaps life was easy then because when you got a poke from the opposite gender, you knew exactly what was coming.
So there you have it, he wants to get down with you, especially if the poke strikes you in a sensitive area of your body. It’s your call if you want it too.
The circumstances:
This is wild, alright. This can happen even if you’re just meeting a guy. If he’s crazy enough, he just wants you guys to get down right away.
If this is your thing too, then show you want to play ball. If you are both alone in a private place when this happens, then intimacy is likely on his mind.
9. He Is Teasing You
This is the easiest means you can stumble on. And it is the easiest of the bunch to spot.
The frequency and the circumstances also help you tell the difference in this poke from the others. Also, note which parts of your body is poked.
Guys tease with pokes when they are making jokes, when they think you need to loosen up. Instead of playful punching you, they’d poke you.
Guys don’t mind making insensitive jokes about other guys. They’d laugh it off and the world would go on being peachy. They’d tease girls instead by poking them.
The circumstances:
This kind of poke happens in a relaxed setting after he has made a joke that involves you. It is done to make you laugh or feel less uptight.
10. He Wants To See Your Reaction
Lastly, a guy pokes you to be certain of your reaction. It is one of the few illogical things guys do. Rather than ask how you feel about stuff, they poke to elicit a smile, a shove, or any other reaction.
A guy who seeks assurance that you are not mad at him after a row would also poke you. Once again, there are other factors that influence this conclusion. For example, is he your boyfriend? Did you folks begin dating recently? Are you just friends?
The circumstances:
In a situation following a conflict. Or in a group after saying something he thinks offends you. Watch for the moony stare especially if he is your girlfriend or lover.
Bottom Line
As you can see, even a simple gesture as innocent as a poke can mean a million things. It means even more if it is done by a guy.
As earlier stated this question comes up when you suspect there’s more to the gesture than meets the eye.
Be sure that you are not reading too much into the act. The parts of the body that are poked also help you make sense of it more so always make your judgment based on this.
Also Read:
- What Does It Mean When Your Boyfriend Wants To Put His Head On Your Chest And Be Held?
- What Does It Mean When Your Ex Sends You A Friend Request On Facebook?
- What Does It Mean When Your Crush Takes Pictures of You?
- What Does It Mean When Someone Fakes Yawns While Talking To You?
- What Does It Mean When Someone Turns On Disappearing Messages On WhatsApp?