7 New Dating Terms That Might Make You Feel ‘Too Old to Be Cool’

Most people have now heard about “ghosting,” a term given to the action of suddenly disappearing and never speaking to someone again without warning or explanation. However, since that term was coined, there have been some other dating terms popping up that need explanations. Here are just a few of them, so everyone can start understanding what people are talking about.

Here are seven dating terms you had no idea existed:

1. Fizzling/Slow Fade

Rather than someone merely being gone without a trace, someone who fizzles or slow fades gradually starts slowing down on communication with another person until they eventually just stop altogether. Unlike ghosting, they take time to fade away into the unknown slowly. Like ghosting, there’s also no explanation as to why communication begins to slow and then vanish into nothingness.

2. Phubbing

This term comes from combining the words “phone” and “snub.” It refers to when a person is hanging out with someone, but they ignore them to spend time on their phone instead. This isn’t to say answering a quick text message, or an important email is a definite snub, but when someone is using their phone as a way to not have to talk to another person, they’re being phubbed.

3. Recycling

Yes, this is now a term that refers to a dating trend, not just something people do to help the environment. Recycling is when someone goes back to an ex, which makes perfect sense when considering the meaning of recycling. It certainly depends on the ex and relationship, but generally, going back to an ex is a bad idea. After all, they are an ex for a reason, so be careful when recycling!

4. Mooning

When using this as a dating term, this does not involve partial nudity, so don’t go there. What it does refer to is utilizing a phone’s “do not disturb” mode to ignore someone. While this mode is great to use to avoid distractions while working or somewhere phones need to be kept on silent, using it to avoid someone is called mooning deliberately.

5. Benching

Sometimes, a person has someone that they don’t want to date, but do like to talk to them and want to keep them around “just in case.” That’s when they get benched. It means maintaining some contact with a person so that should they get extra lonely on some Friday night, they can give that person a call and let them come off the bench for a bit.

6. Trumping

Before anybody asks, this is indeed referring to the President of the United States. People use trumping as a way to get out of talking with people. They do this by claiming to support or agree with Trump so that the person they’re talking to won’t want to talk to them anymore. Although this would work with most people, it could also backfire, so use with caution.

7. Submarining

A submarine starts on the surface of the water where you can see it, then disappears for an unknown period and later reappears without warning. If a person submarines in a relationship, it means they suddenly disappear without explanation (ghosting), but then repeats again, also without explanation. Most people agree it’s hard to know how to respond to this situation.

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About The Author: Originally from Michigan, Melody now enjoys working as a freelance writer from her home in Nicaragua, which she shares with her amazing husband and their crazy cat that was raised on goat’s milk from the time her mother abandoned her at just ten days old. They’re excited to be expecting their first baby, who they thought was a girl, were told was a boy, and then was told was a girl. She also recently finished her first novel and is working on making a cat coloring book.