What is Flirting?

How do you "flirt"? Whether intentionally or not. I seem to be totally oblivious to this unless a woman is doing the super obvious stuff that you see them do in media.

Apparently I was flirting with a gorgeous woman at a shop, today. My dad was with me and he was saying how we were flirting, but I was completely oblivious to it. 'o.O No idea if he's right or not, either. Just the whole "flirting" thing baffles me. I tend to just do whatever feels right... I don't force little "flirting" movements, like how the media seems to show women squeezing their lady-lumps together and messing about with their little finger and their hair. ¬_¬

I suppose it depends on culture, too, ... how does it differ where you are?

If I say to a woman "Your eyes are beautiful." I'd say that was most definitely flirting, where context is appropriate. But that's super obvious, right?

PS
Interested in views from both adult men and women. (not bi, just curious and so maybe could understand my own actions as well as the woman's)

I find there's a difference in the length of eye contact. Few seconds longer.

A lot of women do twirl their hair, not consciously -- we were having dinner with two of my 18ish female cousins. My brother had invited a good looking friend. Both my cousins were twirling their hair whenever they spoke to him - it was so funny to watch!

Smiles, giggles, teasing, touching, standing just a tiny bit over the normal comfort zone...

Flirtations are behaviors that demonstrate an obvious attraction towards someone.
They happen naturally. We have very little control over our flirtatious behavior.
Some are more subtle than others

How about holding someone's gaze, then glance away, glance back to check they are still looking and then hold the gaze again. Maybe add a half sigh or a lip bite for good measure.

Apparently when women used to carry fans, there was a whole range of messages that could be communicated to a man by the way the fan was used. So if you see a woman with a fan, she might be flirting the old fashioned way.