Smirting is the practice of smoking and flirting outside public places such as pubs, bars, cafés, restaurants, and office buildings where smoking is prohibited.^[1][2][3][4]

Smirting was first identified in New York in 2003,^[5][6] and spread to the Republic of Ireland in 2004 when an aggressive smoking ban in public places was enacted.^[7]

Smirting has been so successful that non-smokers try to mingle with the smirters.^[5] The non-smokers may then start to smoke too and so this is a health risk.^[8]

Sociologist and sexologist Pepper Schwartz states that the smirters are "defiant and angry, they don't buy the second-hand smoke argument, and want to share this grudge with someone else." When they are forced outside, smirters form strong bonds in what is essentially an exile community.^[9] But this exile community has its rewards. One study found that 25% of Irish couples who had started a relationship during 2007 or 2008 had met while smoking outside.^[5]