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Posted on 11/12/2025 5:31:27 PM PST by nickcarraway
New words are routinely popping up to describe an evolving relationship landscape - but also paint a largely dispiriting picture. If buzzy dating terms and trends are anything to go by, 2025 hasn’t made relationships sound too appealing.
Granted, the course of true love never did run smooth and all that, but considering how modern dating in a digital age leaves many confused, disillusioned and frequently reporting that it’s akin to wading through the bin juice of humanity, it’s hardly surprising that the ever-growing relationship glossary veers towards the negative.
New words are routinely popping up to describe the evolving landscape, ramping up online discourse on how dating and relationships aren’t always something to celebrate. For instance, Vogue writer Chanté Joseph recently wrote a viral article titled “Is Having a Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?”, in which she explores – amongst other things - the growing trend of how heterosexual women are avoiding showing their boyfriends on social media, as they “don’t want to be seen as being all about their man, but they also want the clout that comes with being partnered.”
“Being partnered doesn’t affirm your womanhood anymore,” states Joseph, adding: “It is no longer considered an achievement, and, if anything, it’s become more of a flex to pronounce yourself single.”
The op-ed has sparked conversation - in some cases outcry - and paints a vivid portrait of how complicated nuances of dating have become, and how the perceived value of relationships has been distorted in the process. It's this knottiness that is untangled by the increase of new terminology, which reveals that up-to-the-minute language is necessary to express current struggles brought about by dating apps. The outlook can feel crushing, leading to the proposition that social media may have ruined romance for generations who have to deal with “throning”, “cushioning” or even “Shrekking”.
Confused?
Don't be, as some of the concepts and behaviours aren't new. They've just been labelled, something which in itself can seem purely superficial - thereby letting technology off the hook, as relationships have never been for the faint of heart.
That said, many words stem from complications inherently linked to dating in a digital age, which is why we’ve compiled a handy (and hardly flattering) guide to these modern terms.
NB: At no point do any members of the Euronews Culture team align with these dispiriting and often toxic practices.
Banksying
A term that comes from the name of elusive British street artist Banksy and which refers to deliberately and slowly withdrawing from a partner, without telling them about it. When the break-up finally arrives, the "Banksyer" has the upper hand, having mentally checked out long ago, while the other partner is left blindsided. The name mirrors how Banksy's works fade away with time or are purposefully destroyed, like the shredding of 'Girl With Balloon' at auction in 2018. Aptly, that artwork was retitled 'Love is in the Bin' once it had publicly been 'destroyed'.
Benching
Treating someone as a backup, like a substitute player kept on the bench, as the person either explores better options or simply isn’t ready to commit to a relationship. The person doing the “benching” gives the "benched" just enough attention to keep them interested, while simultaneously looking around. Ie: Stringing someone along.
Breadcrumbing
This term works alongside "benching" as it involves giving someone small and intermittent bursts of attention to keep them interested, without any real intention of committing to a relationship. It often reveals that the person doing the "breadcrumbing” simply likes the attention and doesn’t want to stop flirting with the “breadcrumbed”, who needs to stay single for the interest they provide. Ie: Stringing someone along.
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Cloaking
Not showing up for a date and blocking all communication online.
Cushioning
Flirting with others while in an established relationship in order to have “cushions” or "safety nets", so that the transition to a new partner is easier.
Dry begging
When one person in the relationship asks for things indirectly, dropping vague hints without being upfront about what they want. Essentially, a cry for attention and validation while not communicating properly, thereby avoiding taking ownership of the need. If done unintentionally, it reveals a fear of vulnerability or that one's desires will be brushed aside. Done intentionally, however, it can guilt-trip the other into feeling a sense of shame and can be considered manipulation.
Kittenfishing
A smaller form of catfishing, by which one misleads others by telling lies when presenting themselves on dating apps.
Loud Looking
Unlike "benching", "breadcrumbing" and "cushioning", "loud looking" is when a person who is in a relationship makes it very clear that they’re keeping their options open by openly flirting with others.
Monkey barring
This term alludes to partners moving from connection to connection, only letting go of one relationship once they’ve moved onto the next.
Pocketing
Avoiding introducing a romantic partner to friends or not posting about your relationship online, to either keep your relationship hidden or obscuring the fact that you’re in one to begin with.
Shrekking
A dating tactic named after everyone's favourite green ogre. It refers to a person settling for someone they're not attracted to or who doesn’t meet their standards. This is done in the hope that the person will treat them better in return, or that the person doing the “shrekking” will put themselves on a pedestal above their partner to create a dynamic of power. And if a person is “shrekked”, it means that they dated below their standards and still got hurt. Considering the practice, it feels like it serves them right.
Snowmanning
Rushing into a relationship with someone during the wintertime and dumping them once spring rolls around.
Throning
Intentionally dating someone to benefit from their clout or social circle. The person raises their status and influence through the other, regardless of emotional connection.
ZIP coding
The act of setting up a tight radius on dating app filters, meaning the person only dates within their area code. In some cases, this can refer to a person considering themselves single when they see other people outside their region.
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Someone has too much free time.
And they wonder why MGTOW is a thing.
MGTOW is a movement designed to put feminists in charge of society.
So often wrong.
And there are a lot of people out there spending money on expensive dates, expensive restaurants, and giving expensive gifts. And they get sex for awhile. But then someone “better” comes along, and people just move on.
Which can lead to high body counts. Plenty of people now see to have triple-digit body counts. One of the big problems there is a learned inability to pair-bond. If they ever manage to get married, they simply will not know how to bond in any sort of permanent way. One morning, after maybe 5 years of marriage, they will decide that their partner brushes their teeth in an annoying way, and that's it. That marriage is over. Because why not? Why be stuck in such an unhappy marriage??
It's a disaster on so many levels.
If not AI generated banalities...it shows how immature up and dishonest “modern” people are.
One morning, after maybe 5 years of marriage, they will decide that their partner brushes their teeth in an annoying way, and that’s it.
“I hate the way she licks stamps. I hate her furniture. And I hate that little sound she makes when she sleeps.”
And with online dating, it’s “Plenty Of Fish In The Sea” syndrome.
Back when our grandparents were growing up, basically if you wanted a good wife, you basically had to have one by the time you turned 18, or the pickings would be slim.
Nothing new. This is the same as it always was. Difference is these women and their behaviors are socially acceptable to a wider range of people. They’re still as sadistically mercenary as ever. And unacceptable to normal people
They get away with it because men accept it
With birth control and abortion, men can have physical relationships they could not in the past. They’re still women know it and wield power
Throning is what I do soon after the first cup of coffee.
Freegards
OMG ...
The sex obsessed culture is what leads to this.
Immorality is why they’re here.
Frankly, sex for money is more moral than sex for free.
Yet we continue to look down at sex workers - while screwing anyone we want just for kicks, just for the night, or just to play house until we decide we don’t like it now.
This is also why we have no one to blame but ourselves (hetero) regarding homosexuals and trannies and making them all “normal” - we made sex far too easy and too paramount, out in the open for all. If you like it, do it.
It’s long been disgusting.
If only they would have listened to Charlie Kirk
Just scanned them but this one caught my eye: When one person in the relationship asks for things indirectly, dropping vague hints without being upfront about what they want.
I think this is a timeless behavior of most wives.
Back in my day we used the term "GU" ... geographically undesirable. Simply put ... to much time, effort, & expense involved in maintaining a relationship.
It is new. Because of social media.
Ambition Gap: Euphemism for a money gap as in "I want him to make more money for me." (Yet if he was a trust fund kid but lazy, she'd be all over him).
AuntiePops: Aunts of GirlyPops, who are too old to be chasing relationships
AWFLs: (Affluent White Female Liberals)
Bureaugamy: A family pattern involving a mother, a child, and a bureaucrat. - from Anthropologist Lionel Tiger in "The Decline of Males" (1999)
Feral Cheryl: Based on a doll from Australia that was meant to be a feminist anti-Barbie. It has dreadlocks, tattoos, piercings, and bare feet.
Hobosexual: a bum that women like because they're always available to be at her beck and call. "If her hobosexual is lounging around her apartment all day playing video games, he's not out with other women."
Hoeflation: Today's men must work 5 times harder than their grandfathers for women that are 20 times worse than their grandmothers.
Maintenance Sex: Just enough sex to keep someone in line
Refrigerator Protecting The Snack - The fat girl who stops you from trying meet her pretty friend.
Shelaborating: when you ask a woman a simple question and she gives you a 30 minute answer. It's real, unlike mansplaining.
Sniper's Dream: Woman with a five-head or larger. A reference to the increased number of women with receding hairlines
THOT: That Hoe Over There
Tinderella: the woman on dating apps chasing Chad
People 50 years ago were like this and they would have done it. Because of social media and social acceptance of birth control. They’re the same
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