From Airplane Mode to Zombieing - The New Top 50 Online Dating Terms


Lately I've received a huge influx of online dating jargon so I just had to compile this crazy new Top 50 List of Online Dating Terms! Back in the day, online dating was the largest segment of paid content on the Web (other than you guessed it, online porn). As Executive Editor of NetLingo, I knew the online dating jargon was proliferating but I had no idea how funny, yet super insensitive, it's become... check it out! How many of these things have happened to you?


1.     airplane mode - when someone cuts themselves off from the world by not checking their smartphone or social media.
2.     bae - An acronym that means Before Anyone Else... there’s also beob (babe) and baesbo (so back off).
3.     baeless -  One who is single, usually refers to a millennial.
4.     banksying - It's when you're going to break-up with someone and decide to plan an elaborate act far in advance.
5.     benching - Someone who is kept on the sides just in case it doesn't work out with the person you’re already dating.
6.     bird boxed - From the Netflix movie, it’s when someone you’re dating treats you badly and you’re blind to it.
7.     bonk - It used to mean to have sex or hook up in generation x lingo, but in generation y lingo it means you’re too tired!
8.     breadcrumbing - Giving a person just enough attention so they’ll keep interest, but you don't have to invest in a relationship.
9.     buzzerflies - The feeling you get when your phone buzzes, and it is potentially the special someone you want to hear from.
10.  caking - When you’re extra sweet to someone you’re really interested in; flirting, either on the phone or in person.
11.  career-zoned - When someone rejects you romantically but wants to connect professionally.
12.  caspering - A variation of ghosting but doing it nicely by letting people down gently before you ghost them.
13.  catfish - Slang for making romantic online overtures using a fake identity.
14.  cohabidating - When two people are newly dating and move in together for financial reasons.
15.  cushioning - It's when you're in a relationship with someone, but you still chat and flirt with other people on the side.
16.  draculaing - It's when people only hear from the people they are dating at night.
17.  DTR – It means Define The Relationship, that big awkward chat where people discuss "where things are going."
18.  exaggerdate - A portmanteau to describe the act of embellishing a date so as to suggest it went way better than it did.
19.  faux beau - A guy who acts like a boyfriend, but just as a ruse to continue his string of hookups.
20.  feels - Millingo for feelings. Sample this, "OMG! I’m starting to have the feels for my umfriend."
21.  force quit - In online dating it's slang for breaking up, as in "They force quit that relationship last week, about time.”
22.  gaslighting - Slang for when an abuser manipulates in such a way as to make a victim question his or her sanity.
23.  going down in the DMs - When two people begin flirting through direct messages on a social media platform.
24.  grandeing - When a person is grateful for their past lovers and the things they taught them, inspired by Thank U, Next.
25.  haunting - When they aren’t in your life anymore but linger on with their digital presence on your social media.
26.  heart bargain - An intellectual who tries to reason their way into or out of an emotional decision.
27.  HSAY - As in How Single Are You? Many will say they’re single but there is often someone texting them good morning...
28.  instabait - Uploading Instagram stories to prod a FOMO-prone crush to get in touch.
29.  instagator - Using Instagram to make a relationship public or to push it along further.
30.  instagrandstanding – Posting photos and videos to your Instagram story tailored to appeal to a specific person.
31.  iPhony - Online jargon that describes when someone constantly tells you they will text you but you never hear from them.
32.  kittenfish - Less drastic than catfish, it’s when someone uses steps to make someone else like them better.
33.  on ice - When you decide to pause the pace of a relationship and chill out for minute, you're putting it “on ice.”
34.  on the team - A dating candidate squad, singles should have three in rotation until you decide to come off the market.
35.  popsicle - It's when your instinct is to play it the opposite of cool, but you try too hard to play hard to get.
36.  romanceting - It involves texting words or images, but instead of demanding sex, you express appreciation and admiration.
37.  scrooging - When you break up with your girlfriend or boyfriend just before the holidays so you don’t have to buy a gift.
38.  situationship - It's when you're not in a committed relationship but you can’t exactly say you’re single either.
39.  slow fade - When you decide you don't want to continue dating someone, and you slowly start becoming less available.
40.  snack - Slang for a very attractive person, usually a female.
41.  Snap trap - If you’ve sent texts but bae doesn’t reply, you then Snapchat them and if your SO opens it, they’re trapped.
42.  SO stalemate - In a relationship, it's when neither party will start the DTR (define-the-relationship) conversation.
43.  social squatter - Someone who breaks up with you but wants to keep seeing your friends platonically (!)
44.  soul-mining - When someone tries to cram three months of emotional intimacy into your first three hours together.
45.  stashing - Stashing means to date someone, while not telling anyone about them. It's like having a guilty secret.
46.  textual chemistry - When your text connection is hot off-the-charts but in person, your chemistry barely registers.
47.  three-dot disappearing act - ...The act of starting to type a text message on your smartphone and then stopping...
48.  throning - When a person dates someone to elevate his or her own social status, wealth or reputation.
49.  you-turn - Slang for someone who goes from one extreme relationship to the next in the blink of an eye.
50.  zombieing - Similar to ghosting, but the dater reappears in your life and acts as nothing happened after a period of time.

- Erin Jansen, Internet Specialist, Social Psychologist, Founder of NetLingo.com
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