A TikTok Dating Coach Coined the Term "Catching Print," and Now Everyone Is Using It

Users on TikTok have a way of creating new words, new trends, and new communities that might not have existed if it weren't for the short-form video platform. One user, a dating coach named Anwar White, took it a step further by creating the phrase "catching print" and using it to help some users find their perfect mate, anatomically speaking, anyway.

But what does "catching print" mean on TikTok? If you've come across users on the app using that phrase in reference to gray sweatpants or to men in general, it all started with Anwar. He explains what it means in some of his videos, and now, other users have taken "catching print" and run with it, so chances are it will soon be a phrase that has made the leap to real life.

"Catching print" refers to glancing at the crotch of a man's pants and determining, from sight alone, via the imprint of his private parts, what size he might be. Is it incredibly degrading? Yes, probably. But, as one woman says in her video that Anwar stitches with one of his own, it's not totally unlike some people clocking the size of women's breasts.

Now, using Anwar's method of "catching print" and looking closely at the inseam of men's clothing, users are trying to figure out what size length famous men are working with. In one TikTok, a user "catches print" with the "men of MAGA." He then proceeds to show photos of people like Donald Trump, JD Vance, and Pete Hegseth, and guess how long their genitals are.

According to Anwar in his initial video where he outlines what "catching print" means, it refers to checking out the outline of a man's pants to determine his size and length, ahem, down there. By now, most of us have heard of how gray sweatpants offer that visibility for men and for those who are attracted to men. Now, per Anwar, there is a system for "catching" the "print" through any pants.

In his video about "how to catch print," Anwar explains that there are three types of prints to, well, catch, when clocking what a man might be packing in his jeans, or sweatpants, or shorts.

"Type A is where the peak is above the actual mis-inseam," Anwar explains. "This is accurate [to] four to six inches. And then you have Type B, which is right at the middle to the bottom of the inseam…This will give you six to eight inches. And then the D type is either flat like a Ken Doll or it's rounded out like a little banana. That's Type D. That's eight inches or more."

Anwar's other videos feature tips for dating, how to identify problematic partners, the best careers to look for in partners, and other advice for people looking for a significant other. But his most popular by far is his apparent invention of "catching print" and all that it entails for other people on their dating journeys.