If you're a teen/young adult and you spend your fair share of time on any platform of social media, you've probably heard by now plenty of slang terms used when it comes to dating! Let me just state the obvious and say that it can sometimes be a struggle to keep up with the ever-changing dating lingo.
With that said, there are a few that you need to know about so keep reading to discover BritCo.com list of slang terms as well as their definitions!
1 Bae
Bae refers to your girlfriend, boyfriend, partner, significant other, or object of desire — whether real, in progress, or aspirational. There are different stories of where bae originated from: Some claim it’s a shortened version of “babe” (because “babe” just wasn’t short enough), and others say it’s an acronym for “before anyone else.” What is not questioned, however, is its rise in popularity. In 2014, it was an Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year runner up (the crown went to “vape”), and it became the first meme of 2017 when a Turkish chef seasoned his meat in the most extra way, earning him internet fame as “salt bae.”
Frequently asked questions
2 Benching
Someone is benching if they’re keeping their dating options open, AKA leading you on. You may have gone on a great date together, but since then, they only text intermittently and primarily with emoji, make vague plans they never follow through on, or cancel on you at the last minute because of flimsy excuses like, “I forgot I have a work thing.” They’re double tapping on your ‘grams to make sure you don’t forget about them, but you’ve been benched like a second-string athlete waiting for someone else to get injured so you have a shot in the game. TL; DR: He’s just not that into you.
3 Breadcrumbing
Breadcrumbing is the lazy person’s version of benching. Every time mercury is in retrograde, a breadcrumber will re-emerge and slide into your DMs or text you a short message (“U up?”), teasing you with the fact that they’re still thinking about you but not making any effort whatsoever toward a real life date or relationship. Note to prospective partners: The only time breadcrumbs should be involved is if you’re wandering into the woods toward a house made of candy or about to make some fried chicken tenders for dinner. Otherwise, save your carbs for something worthwhile.
4 Conscious Uncoupling
When Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin announced they were divorcing, they chose to describe it as a “conscious uncoupling” (the term was coined by a psychotherapist prior to that). It’s basically another way of saying two adults made an adult decision to do something adult. Which begs the question: Is there such thing as unconscious uncoupling? Did a couple ever sleep break up and then the next morning find all their shared social media photos deleted and think, well, “I guess that’s that”?
5 Cuffing Season
Cuffing season refers to the fall and winter months when the weather outside is frightful and cuddling inside is delightful. Singles intentionally look to couple up during this period because it provides extra body heat and (hand)cuffing someone to you during the holidays means you don’t have to endure all those awkward family gatherings alone. It begins approximately when pumpkin spice starts its seasonal domination of all things food-related and ends when you dust off the crochet crop tops in preparation for festival season.
6 Cushioning
Cushioning is getting yourself some dating insurance. Even though you’re seeing someone, you’re also stringing along some backup boos (possibly the benchwarmers in #2) that can cushion your fall if your current relationship doesn’t work out. It’s essentially cheating by another name. It’s like if someone loses a chess game and then goes around telling everyone they got second place. Sorry, that’s not a thing; just admit you lost, and let’s all move on.
7 DM
DM, or direct message, is contacting someone via social media when you don’t have their phone number. It usually requires charm and smooth talking to slide into someone’s DMs without coming off as a total internet stalker, but it’s a way to chat up someone out of the blue while still getting a sense of who they are (by only slightly internet stalking them). Like Yo Gotti said, “It goes down in the DM.”
8 Drafting Season
Drafting season is the counter to cuffing season. During the warm spring and summer months, everyone is brunching outdoors, single and mingling. It’s the perfect time for people to evaluate the pool of potential mates for someone they can bunker down with when cuffing season rolls around. Just like sports drafts, there are a lot of players involved, and it’s usually very confusing.
