Online Dating Lingo You May Be Unaware Of

Ghosting

The term ghosting has appeared after the arrival of technology; it is a phenomenon that the earlier generation was aware of too.

You meet someone nice and you think you like them. You are pretty sure that they like you back too. Things are going well and then, all of a sudden they vanish into thin air. If this has ever happened to you, then you have been ghosted.

It can be devastating, as a potential relationship abruptly ends and you are not even given an explanation.

The Slow Fade

It is similar to ghosting, but is not as abrupt. You and your date slowly tend to lose interest and reduce the time you spend interacting with each other. At the start of the dating phase, you would probably be chatting online for hours. But as the slow fade comes in, you slowly fall out of it and end up never speaking to each other again.

Cuffing Season

You might probably be happily single but as the holiday season arrives, you suddenly feel lonely. This feeling peaks around Valentine's Day, birthdays and Christmas (in the west). This affects a lot of singletons and they all hurriedly try to find a date for themselves. These peak times are called the cuffing season.

DTR

DTR or Define The Relationship is the online equivalent of the dreaded "let's have the chat". Things are going well and casual with your online date, when you are sprung up with the DTR. And now, you have to talk about where your relationship is and where do you see it going.

Benching

Benching aka breadcrumbing is when you are technically dating but it does not feel like it. You are not meeting up with your date but they keep contacting you on a regular basis online. In reality, this is done when your date thinks you are great but wants to check out other options to see if they can find someone better. In other words, you have been benched.

Haunting

You were ghosted by someone in the past and now they are back. They may not contact you directly but will make sure that you feel their online presence. They will like all your posts and will follow you on all your social media accounts.

This is probably done because they regret ghosting you but are too much of a coward to face you again.

Catch And Release

Catch and release is done by a chronic dater who loves the chase but soon loses the thrill when they get what they want. They are usually very charming and enchanting. They never go for the obvious and the easy kill. They work hard to woo you and when they realise that you have fallen for them, they let you go.

BO

FBO or Facebook Official is the online equivalent of getting married. It is the epitome of online relationships. Both you and your love interest change your relationship status on your Facebook accounts and announce to the world that you are taken.