From Ghosting to Orbiting: A Guide to Modern Dating Terms

Dating today comes with its own entire vocabulary. If you've been out of the game for a few years, or if you're just trying to keep up with what Gen Z is saying on TikTok, navigating a date can feel like trying to translate a foreign language. Here is a handy guide to decode the slang of modern digital romance.

Ghosting

The granddaddy of all modern dating terms. Ghosting is when someone you've been talking to or dating abruptly cuts off all communication without any explanation. They don't reply to texts, they don't answer calls—they simply vanish like a ghost. It's the ultimate digital silent treatment, often used by people who want to avoid the awkwardness of saying "I'm not interested."

Orbiting

Imagine someone ghosts you. They never text you back. But for some reason, they are the very first person to view every single one of your Instagram Stories, and they occasionally "heart" your tweets. That is Orbiting. They keep you close enough in their gravitational pull to see what you're doing, but remain too far away to actually engage in a meaningful conversation. It's confusing, and it's best to just block orbiters for your own peace of mind.

Breadcrumbing

Breadcrumbing is when someone sends you just enough digital morsels (a random text here, a meme there) to keep your interest alive, but they have no intention of actually committing or meeting up. They leave a trail of breadcrumbs to keep you on the hook while they pursue other options. If you find yourself constantly waiting weeks for a reply that only says "haha yeah," you are being breadcrumbed.

Situationship

A situationship is the gray area between a casual hookup and a committed relationship. You might go on dates, meet their friends, and do couple-y things, but there is no label, no commitment, and usually a lot of underlying anxiety. Situationships often happen when one person wants more than the other, but they are too afraid to define the relationship ("DTR") for fear of losing the person entirely.

Soft Launching

When you start dating someone new, you might not want to immediately announce it to your 500 followers. A Soft Launch is a subtle hint on social media that you are taken. It's a picture of two coffee cups, a photo of a mystery hand resting on a steering wheel, or a shadowed silhouette. It lets people know you're off the market without revealing the person's identity until you are absolutely sure.