Have you ever heard dating slang that you have no idea what they’re talking about? What does a ghost, peach emoji, and Netflix and Chill have to do with a relationship?
While many of us are still going out for dinner and drinks dates, the way we meet, communicate, how we refer to what we are/aren’t, and even how we break up are drastically different.
Dating has significantly changed over the last 5-10 years.
I’ve been “dating” for the last 20 years (holy crap 🤯 eeekkk!), so I’m quite in the know of dating slang. However, I realize that many of you may be out of the dating game and unfamiliar with many modern dating terms.
Here is a comprehensive guide to dating slang in 2021!
Swiping
Dating APPs that match by photos use the physical motion of swiping your finger on your phone left (no, thanks) or right (yes, please).
“She looks like a swipe right”
“I swiped right on him”
Catfishing
Thanks to online dating and the popular MTV show Catfish, this term exists. There are two versions of this. The first is when someone is completly pretending to be someone else by using fake pictures. The other is when they use highly edited/filtered pictures OR a picture from 5-10 years prior.
Love Bombing
That honeymoon phase where your partner is showing affection, wooing you, and it almost feels too good to be true? Sometimes it is. When you’ve commited to a relationship but then all of a sudden all of the affection and wooing instantly stops and you see a different side, you’ve been love bombed.
Phubbing
When you’re hanging out with someone and they spend all of their time on their phone showing you that you are definitely not a priority. (This is not to be confused with someone who has an occasional work emergency and communicates that they need to take a call or send an email.)
Benching
Similar to being on a sports team and being “on the bench”. You’re not first string but you’re on the bench waiting.
“Coach, put me in!”
In the dating world, it means that you are likely in the dating lineup. The person you are seeing is likely dating around and has an ideal “first pick” but if that doesn’t work out they want to have a backup. If you’re being benched, that’s you!
Ghosting
Ghosting is when you disappear out of someone’s life without an explanation. The texts, calls, and dates are regular and then all of a sudden they stop responding, no contact etc. It can happen after a week or a year. It usually happens when the person is no longer interested and doesn’t have the emotional maturity to have an adult conversation. This leaves the person ghosted feeling confused and hurt.
Haunting
Completly ended things with someone but notice they continue to pop up on your social media? Whether they are viewing your stories or liking your posts, they are reminding you that they still exisit.
Vulturing
Like a vulture circling their prey, a single person waiting for their crush to be newly single and pick up the pieces when they sense the relationship is almost over.
BDE (Big Dick Energy)
A man that has so much confidnece in himself without having to be loud, dominate the converstaion, or brag about himself and his accomplishments.
Slide into DM’s/DM Slide
“He/she/they slid into my DM’s” is a phrase many single people use when talking about their crush. This is when you send a DM (Direct Message) to your crush or vice versa using the private messaging feature on social media (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook etc.).
Slow Fade
Don’t wanna have THE conversation but don’t wanna ghost? This is where the Slow Fade comes in. The texts and calls slowly start to become less constant and the quality of response may be lackluster until it slowly falls off to nothing.
Left on Read
This one isn’t as popular anymore because most millenials and Gen Z don’t use read receipts via text. If your crush is messaging you on a social media platform it shows that the message has been read. The thought is that if they really like you, they’ll instantly respond. Left on read means yeah, they saw the message but chose not to respond right now.
Emergency Call
Have you ever been on a date and wish you could get out of there ASAP? This is where the emergency call comes in handy! There are a few ways to go about this. Have a friend call about 15-30 minutes into your date and use a code word if you need a rescue, if not then you contine the date as planned. The other way to use this is to just pick up your phone and say you got a text and it’s an emergency.
*I suggest receiving a real call from a friend over faking it.
IRL
IRL means In Real Life and in the digital world of dating it sometimes has to be said that you met IRL or had a date IRL. Quarantine and virutal dates
Netflix and Chill
When your date invites you over to their house to watch a movie and 5 minutes in it instantly turns into sex.
Situationship
Remember when Facebook had the “Relationship Status” and there was always that person that had “It’s Complicated” checked? They are probably in a situationship right now. It’s not quite a relationship but it’s not nothing. Similar to a casual relationship, they are probably having sex with this person but someone is not up for committment. It’s not a friendship, it’s not a relationship…it’s a situationship.
Textlationship
A relationship that never takes off past the texting phase. Flirtaious texts that never manifest into a date IRL.
Cuffing Season
Did you ever notice that a lot of single people all of a sudden have holiday dates? That period from late fall to early winter is called Cuffing Season. And yes, it’s actually a thing. Single people search for partners during this period for two reasons. To either not be lonely during the winter season when there’s nothing to do. Or because they need a partner to take home for the holidays to ward off all the family questions.
Uncuffing Season
Typically Cuffing season relationships come together for a specific reason (holidays, winter etc.), so when that is over, typically the relationship is too. Uncuffing Season is typically considered to be springtime when people want to break things off and venture out for a flirtatious summer. Maybe something more casual like a summer fling. 😉
Summer Fling
Summer Flings are the counterpart to Cuffing Season. Whether you’re on vacation for summer or staying home, a relationship of any sort that is known (or possibly unknown) to only last through the summer. Short and sweet casual relationships.
Emoji Dating Slang
These emojis are still okay to use in general context but they do mean something VERY different in the dating world.
Eggplant Emoji 🍆
Peach Emoji 🍑
Sweat Droplets Emoji 💦
Hot Emoji 🥵
Have you heard other dating slang that wasn’t covered here? Drop a comment below and don’t forget to subscribe to my weekly dating series below!
