1 - Benching

When you're not into someone enough to commit to officially dating them, but you don't want them to move on and find someone else either, so you string them along just enough to keep them waiting on the sidelines for you.

2 - Breadcrumbing

Sending flirty but non-committal messages to a person when you're not really interested in dating them but don't have the guts to break things off with them completely. The breadcrumbee is strung along for the sake of sparing the breadcrumber a confrontation.

3 - Caspering

The polite cousin of ghosting. Named after Casper, the friendly pop-culture ghost, caspering refers to a gradual weaning of communication with a potential romantic interest, instead of an abrupt disappearing act, to minimize emotional damage.

4 - Casual Relationship

Somewhere in between f*ck-buddies and going steady is the casual relationship, in which two people typically hang out regularly and have sex but don't partake in the hallmarks of a serious relationship.

5 - Catfishing

You post old pictures of yourself to lure someone in. You have great texting and phone conversations, but until you move your conversation to video chat or meet in person, it usually ends badly. Plus, it automatically displays you as a dishonest person.

6 - Comet Partner

A comet partner is a polyamory term for a person who swings by here and there for dates or hookups but doesn’t take up much time or space in your life.  Basically, the midway point between a casual relationship, a long-distance relationship and non-monogamy.

7 - Cuffed

Getting "cuffed" AKA making your relationship exclusive or official. (Younger terminology)

8 - Curved

Being rejected, shot down, turned aside, said no to, dissed and dismissed.

9 - Cushioning

The process of staying in contact with one or more romantic prospects as a backup in case things don't go smoothly with your main squeeze. The "cushions" are usually kept on the periphery, eg. texting rather than full blown cheating.

10 - Daterview

This is done more by women as a precaution.  Causing the date to feel like a job interview.

11 - Demisexual

Person whose sex drive is not tied to an immediate visual or physical attraction but to people's personalities. As a result, demisexuals are poor candidates for one-night stands and casual relationships. Demisexuals tend to be more with older people as they are looking for a more meaningful relationship. Demisexuals usually make for great partners.

12 - Emergency Call

Fakeout that allows you to politely get out of a particularly bad date. If you can tell the night's going to be a trainwreck from the earliest moments (and you often can) but you're genuinely don't want to insult the date you're sitting across from, a fake emergency call from a friend saying, "Your brother is in the hospital" or "Your cat just died" early in the evening can be a real lifesaver.

13 - Ghosting

When you disappear out of someone's life because you're no longer interested in them, instead of telling them directly. It's more abrupt than breadcrumbing: the ghoster will suddenly stop replying to texts and won't answer calls, and the ghostee is usually left hurt and confused.

14 - Haunting

Haunting occurs when you think you have ending things with a date that didn't work out or even a serious relationship.  However, you start to notice signs that your ex is lurking on your social media feeds.  They randomly click "Like" on old Instagram pics or watch your daily stories. Often the notifications are a deliberate attempt to remind you that they exist.

15 - Kitten Fishing

You portray yourself in an unrealistically positive light in your online dating profiles.  Think photoshopped or very outdated profile pics, or listing "lawyer" as your occupation when you're really a first-year law student. (Similar to Catfishing)

16 - Love Bombing

When a new partner shows extreme amounts of affection early on and expends serious energy in a deliberate attempt to woo you. However, once you've committed to a relationship with them, the love bomber will withdraw all that affection and let their true, ugly colors shine through, leaving you stuck in a nightmare relationship.  Love bombing is manipulative and abusive.

17 - Orbiting

Unlike ghosting or Zombieing (a term you'll find if you keep scrolling), there’s no text, call or other form of communication that initiates anything. In this case, you'll see a notification, get your hopes up, but find they never actually reach out. Just remember: if someone really wants to date you, they’d probably make more of an effort than tapping on a “like” button.

18 - Pie Hunting

An unsavory dating phenomenon in which a person (the "hunter") deliberately dates "pies", or heartbroken, vulnerable people with messy dating histories, who are perceived to be easier and lower maintenance. Then they try and scam you.

19 - Recycling

Going back to an ex. As an example it was especially common during COVID-19.

20 - Roaching

New dating trend where people hide the fact that they're dating around a new partner and, when confronted, claim to have simply been under the assumption that there was no implication of monogamy to begin with. In today's more poly-friendly dating culture, this is a slick tactic to shift the blame to the person confronting them, but the truth is it's both parties' responsibility to be at least baseline open about seeing other people if that's the case. Roaching, as a result, is deeply messed up.

21 - Situationship

When you are kind of dating someone, but you aren't in a relationship and you're constantly unsure of your situation.

22 - Slow Fade

The process of ending a lackluster relationship or fling by gradually reducing contact and response times. Like a smoother version of breadcrumbing, the person doing the fading will taper off contact, like gradually turning down the volume on a song and starting a new one without anyone noticing.

23 - Soft Launch

Keeping a new partner a total secret while you continue to post about other stuff can feel dishonest.  The practice of posting little hints that suggest the presence of a new person in your life. The classic soft launch post is a hand or other body part innocuously placed in the frame of a photo.

24 - Stashing

When a person won't introduce the person, they're seeing to anyone in their lives, and doesn't mention their existence on social media. The "stashed" partner is kept hidden from view and stashing is a classic move of the commitment averse.

25 - Stealthing

Form of sexual assault. Named for when guys surreptitiously remove a condom mid-sexual act, enabling them to finish the deed unprotected.  Stealthing is a horrifying reminder that consent, and sexual health education are woefully lacking in modern society.

26 - Submarining

When your old flame pops back up in your life after a lengthy period of silence, but rather than acknowledging the disappearance, they simply act as if dipping without warning is normal behavior.  This person knows they have you wrapped around their finger, so why put in the effort to apologize or explain? If you're getting submarined, get out of that relationship!

27 - Text Blackhole

Entering a never-ending texting conversation with someone you meet online and never actually meeting them in real life.

28 - Textlationship

Flirtatious connection between two people that work on manifests through texting.  There is chemistry there with playful texting but it never translates to phone conversations or meeting in person.

29 - Turbo Relationship

When your relationship is in overdrive due to the pandemic. Instead of casually dating for a while, you DTR (define the relationship), move in together, or do any other relationship behavior that normally would develop over months or years.

30 - Uber Radius

Determining someone’s desirability based on the distance between where he/she lives and where you live.

31 - Vulturing

When someone senses a person is vulnerable or desperate for a date, they circle their prey in order to have easy sex with them.

32 - Zootie Call

When someone hits you up late at night for a virtual hookup via zoom.