Don't bogart the boyfriend...

friendcest 1. sleeping with or dating someone your friend has already dated or slept with.
2. when one person dates a bunch of people from the same group of friends, usually one at a time.
3. dating friends, dating your friends friends. You already like them... your friends already like them, so why not....... fuck it all up?
"I'm friendcesting your ex, Michelle.." "No worries mate, I'm doing your sister." snap!

Yes, and now we come to that long-awaited chapter of friendcest. You may have been a victim, or perhaps thought about perpetrating this act. As the world becomes smaller and smaller and boundaries become less and less apparent, what do you do when your dating pool becomes shared?

Here's the dealie with definition one. Date at your own risk but you'll jeopardize a friendship in the process. Because Darwin dictates that we as human animals are territorial creatures, and that marking over someone else's love turf, presumes that a) there was no love really between your friend and their ex (in which case they already have an opinion about them) ; and b) there isn't a shred of competitiveness between you and your friend. It's all case-by-case, but if you do meet someone that knocks your socks off, please refrain from dating them while your friend does, and always either inform said friend or even ask their permission before busting a move (or a nut). Otherwise, you are a snake... and much weirdness may result.

Definition two is for the careerist who plows through a group of girls that all know each other, making their way through until they've exhausted present company options. These people are usually myopic and simultaneously possessing stupendous amounts of delusion and insensitivity to others' feelings. Because, in reference to above, he will doubtlessly cause a rift between these friends, and possibly be expunged if said friends realise whathefuh is going on and choose friendship over the interloper. Divide and conquer is his m.o., and not full disclosure.

Not surprisingly, men are more forgiving of such transgressions (esp. if they're the kind that get into daily fistfight-but-forget-it deals) because they're more capable of perpetrating them casually. Women, however, have been conditioned to fight tooth-and-nail over their spoils, so watch out. In addition, they generally think that the good fish in the sea have been depopulated, so instead of wanting to find a guy as great as her fellow friend's boo, she may be gunning for him directly.

Human nature dictates that we squirm to avoid awkwardness and confrontations, but you're axin' for a waxin' if you do how they do. People who have shared lovers generally can't peacefully co-exist unless shared person is out of the picture and you're co-miserating. There's that subconscious pecking order that comes into play (was i better? are we closer??) and cattiness can result. There's one fella i know that treated his work/social arena like a playground and then paid for it later with hospitalization, a lawsuit and a reckoning when his girlfriends from the same circle showed up at the same time. needless to say, he left and never returned - to the seventh level of hell...