Traditional marriage proposals could soon be consigned to the history books – with almost half of them now happening at home in front of the TV. A study of newlyweds has found modern men are ditching age-old traditional proposal custom in favor of a more lackluster approach.

    The study found only a third of men now go down on one knee to pop the question as their fathers and grandfathers' generations would have done.

    And the age-old tradition of asking the bride's father for her hand in marriage is also on the verge of dying out with 63 percent of recently married men claiming they "didn't bother."

    Even the idea of picking a romantic location to propose has fallen by the wayside, with the typical "Will you marry me" now most likely to take place at home.

    Only six percent bothered to take their partner abroad on holiday – but the same number of men proposed in the local pub – and 5.5 percent popped the question in the car.

    The study also found the average amount of time in a relationship before a proposal is now three years – so British women are taking matters into their own hands in a bid to get a proposal.

    Almost a third of women (29 percent) now end up choosing their own ring, rather than letting their partner decide.

    The typical bride-to-be will also enlist the help of at least one friend to help speed up a proposal – as well as dropping two major engagement hints to encourage their partner to pop the question.

    Casually asking "Who would you want as your best man," commenting on celebrities' engagement rings - and jokingly suggesting you apply for the TV show "Don't Tell the Bride" are the most common tactics.

    Lorna Haddon, diamond ring and jewelry buyer at Beaverbrooks who commissioned the study of 1,500 newlyweds, commented, "The stresses and strains of modern life mean we don't always have the time to be as romantic as we would perhaps like to be."

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    平淡无奇的

    píngdàn wúqí de

    lackluster

    lacking brilliance or radiance, dull

    求婚

    qíuhūn

    pop the question

    (informal) propose marriage

     现代人求婚越来越不浪漫

     传统的求婚方式可能很快就只在历史书里出现了，现在几乎有一半的求婚是在家里看电视的时候完成的。

    一项针对新婚夫妇的调查发现，现代人渐渐地不再遵循传统的求婚习俗，而更倾向于没有惊喜的平凡求婚方式。

    研究发现，只有三分之一的男性现在还会像他们的父辈和祖父辈那样单膝下跪求婚。

    而另一项古老的传统 — 就结婚事宜请求新娘父亲的首肯 — 也在慢慢消失，有63%的新婚男性说他们不再“这么费事了”。

    连选一个浪漫求婚地点的想法也乏人问津了。那句经典的“你愿意嫁给我么？”大多是在家里说出来的。

    只有6%的人会花心思把他们的伴侣带到国外度假然后求婚，也有6%的男性在当地酒吧求婚，还有5.5%在汽车上求婚。

    研究还发现求婚前平均恋爱时间是三年，所以英国女性会自己想办法让他们的伴侣求婚。

    约有三分之一（29%）的女性现在连戒指都是自己选，而不是让他们的伴侣选。

    一般准新娘会至少让一个朋友帮忙推进求婚的进程，或者抛出两个重要的关于订婚的暗示来鼓动伴侣早些求婚。

    不经意间问他们“你想找谁当伴郎？”，评论一下名人的订婚戒指，还会开玩笑建议你去参加电视节目《新娘不得知》，这些都是最常用的技巧。

    比弗布鲁克公司的钻戒及珠宝买手洛娜?哈顿委托进行了此次针对1500位新婚夫妇的调查。她表示：“现代生活的压力和负担意味着我们不是总有时间像期望中那么浪漫。”