pickup linen. originally U.S. a prepared (frequently clichéd) conversational gambit employed in the hope of striking up a flirtatious or sexual encounter; cf. chat-up linen. at chat-upadj.
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1979 N.Y. Times 15 Mar. b 3/5 He said that the line by Rosalind, ‘What is it o'clock?’ was not unlike a ‘pickup line in a bar’.
2002 Cairns (Queensland) Post (Nexis) 31 Aug. 4 Are your pick-up lines causing your potential partners to throw-up?