He's A 10 But...

Definition:

A social game and phrasal template used to playfully rate an attractive person with a hypothetical negative trait or quirk that might affect their overall appeal

Context:

The phrase "He's a 10 but..." originated as a TikTok trend from a group of girls in late May 2022. It quickly evolved into a popular social game and now widely-used meme format where participants present scenarios using variations of the phrase, followed by a description of a negative trait that might lower the fictitious person's attractiveness score.

Typically, the phrase is used in casual social settings or on social media platforms to spark discussion about dating preferences, deal-breakers, and humorous scenarios (including referencing non-romantic scenario's such as pets or movie characters). The trend has since expanded to include "She's a 10 but..." and can also start with lower initial ratings, allowing for both positive and negative trait descriptions to increase or decrease ratings.

Example:

^{(all names &
events in the following scenario have been made up)}

Zak: “She's a 10 but she only watches Hallmark movies🤦‍♂️”

Mom: “Hey!”