Honestly, it’s practically impossible to keep up with all the different dating trends and terminology floating around online. To try help keep you in the loop, and avoid potential social embarrassment when asking what something means, we’ve decided to compile our very own little dating dictionary.
Oh, and if you’ve somehow managed to make it past the dating phase and are just here to potentially learn something, don’t forget to pick up a cute (or perhaps not so cute) card ahead of the 14th of February.
Lucky for you, here at thortful we’ve got a whole range of Valentine’s Day cards that you can take your time exploring – how about that? Here are a couple of our top picks:
Ghosting: meaning
To ease into things, let’s start with a dating trend that most people should already have heard of – ghosting. Pretty much anyone who’s been on the dating scene in the last five years or so will be very aware of what this means. And if you’ve not been, you’ve likely still come across the term anyway.
Ghosting refers to when someone you’re speaking to romantically suddenly “disappears”. They might just stop messaging you back randomly one day or even go so far as to block you on everything.
Either way, the person on the other end of things is left confused and without closure.
Zombieing: meaning
Following on from ghosting, we now also have zombieing. Essentially, this is when you’ve already been ghosted but the person then has the nerve to come back into your life as if nothing happened. As you might have guessed, this has been cleverly coined as it’s similar to how zombies come back from the dead.
The rationale behind why they do this can vary from feeling bored and wanting to see if the other person is still interested to realising that they actually made a big mistake by ghosting in the first place.
Just keep an eye out and maybe do some digging if you think this is happening to you!
Stashing: meaning
Have you ever been dating someone, but they seem to keep you hidden away? No meeting friends and family. No pictures of your face shared on social media. Meanwhile, you’re happy and proud to show them off.
If this sounds familiar, we’re afraid to say that you might have experienced what is now being called “stashing”. To sum it up, for whatever reason, one person in the relationship is purposefully keeping their partner secret from other areas of their life.
Groundhogging: meaning
Feel like every dating scenario always ends up the same? It sounds like you might be guilty of groundhogging (if you haven’t caught on yet, it’s a play on the film “Groundhog Day”).
Basically, it’s all about the fact that you’re going after and dating the same type of people over and over again yet still expecting something different to happen. So, if you’re someone who has a strict list of requirements that a partner has to meet, it might be worth cutting down a little.
Soft launching: meaning
Introducing a new partner to the world can certainly feel like a big deal. Gone are the ol’ days of just updating your relationship status on Facebook, it’s now all about “soft launching” them on social media. But what does that even mean?
To successfully soft launch a partner, you’ll need to post a sneaky picture instead. Think a picture of the two of you holding hands or of a romantic gift that they treated you to. The goal is to hint to other people that you’re dating someone without being too obvious or in their face about it.
Slow dating: meaning
When dating apps first really began to take off, it became very easy to talk to a bunch of people at once in the hope of finding romance. For some, this worked out and they ended up finding love. However, others found it harder to form a deeper connection this way.
That’s where “slow dating” comes in, and whilst it’s certainly not a new concept, those who’ve used dating apps in the past may find it a big change.
Instead of interacting with everyone, the idea is that you limit the amount of people you’re talking to in a romantic sense. This should allow you to focus on deciding whether someone is for you or not without being overwhelmed by talking to lots of different people.
Cuffing season: meaning
As the weather grows colder it can be hard for singletons who don’t have someone to snuggle up to on those dark nights. So much so, in fact, that “cuffing season” has emerged.
Whilst this term has been around for a few years now, if you’re unfamiliar or want some clarification, let us explain. Cuffing season is when some people start actively looking for a short-term partner purely for the colder months. There is no definitive start or end to cuffing season but it tends to be from around October to March.
Wokefishing: meaning
Wokefishing is all about someone pretending to be ‘woke’ and having more progressive political views than they really do. For instance, a person might act sex-positive, pro-feminist, and an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. Unfortunately, in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The reason why someone would do this considering that their real beliefs and true feelings are bound to come out eventually anyway remains unknown.
Negging: meaning
Remember that old-school flirting tactic of making fun of someone that barely works when you’re young and foolish on the playground. Well, it appears some people didn’t get the memo and negging is like that but for grown-ups who should know better.
The whole idea is to give someone a backhanded compliment in order to try and make them more interested in you. The problem here is that it’s all about making someone feel as though they might not be good enough.
As you might have guessed, negging is not a dating trend you want to experience.
Situationship: meaning
In short, a situationship is when you’re not committed to one another but still in some sort of a romantic or sexual relationship. However, it’s likely that you’ve never even had a discussion about “what you are”.
It can be hard to define what this term really means as it can look different depending on the situation. For some people, it might lean more towards the classic friends with benefits but for others they might see it as though they’re getting all the typical relationship stuff without the labels.
Whatever your relationship status is, you should now at least be able to look out for these dating trends in the future for yourself and others. Don’t let this all scare you off from putting yourself out there though. We’ve got a whole guide on alternative and fun first date ideas that’s perfect if you’re unsure what to do when first meeting up.
After even more fun reads? You’re in the right place… or nearly anyway! Over on the thortful blog you can find all sorts of great articles ranging from lifestyle and special occasion topics to gift ideas and inspiration on what to write in cards.
