Remember when we used to write letters and tell a friend to pass it to our love interest? Remember when we used to copy lyrics from songs and put it in those letters? Remember when taking a girl to Mr Biggs was a big deal? Of course, Y’all won’t remember, with your ‘slide into the dm’ and ‘swipe left’ heads.
Ah, how things have changed. Your great-grandmothers are rolling in their graves thinking about what you guys get up to these days. “children of nowadays” they cluck while shaking their heads, let’s pray for them, they conclude.
Jokes aside, relationships and relationship terms have evolved over the years. New terms have sprung up to reflect the change. Here are a couple of them:
Ghosting:
When all communication end without explanation. When you’re being ghosted by someone, he/she will cease to respond to your texts, emails, or social media interaction. Nor will they reach out to you on their own accord. You really don’t know if they’re dead or alive, got back with an ex, migrated to Canada. Decided you’re possessesd or What?
Context Clues: “We went out every Friday night for 5 weeks, then she full on ghosted me. Like, I thought she was dead or something.”
Catfishing:
Someone who has created an entirely fictitious identity for themselves online. Catfish profiles exist on all social media platforms – dating apps, facebook, instagram. Some use pictures of actors and obscure models while some use pictures of their friends! The catfish is crazy because they might not even be the gender or age they’re claiming to be. Fun.
Context Clues: “So you know that guy Boyo from Lagos who found me on Instagram? Total catfish. I discovered his pictures belong to a professional model who lives in New York. Like, Boyo’s probably a 16 year old yahoo boy in Ibadan.”
Creeping:
Snooping around someone’s social media accounts on a regular basis. Also known as “cyber-stalking”. If you’ve seen his sister’s Instagram page, all his ex’s online pictures, or his pictures taken with his first camera phone on Facebook, congrats! You’re creeping. Don’t feel bad though, you’re in good company. Almost everyone in the social media sphere have creeped at some point. The downside to creeping is you might get to see something you wish you hadn’t.
Context Clues: “Oh yeah, so this guy is totally creeping on my Facebook. I know because he ‘likes’ all these random old photos of mine from 2013.”
Love Bombing:
Showing and expressing affection intensely right at the beginning stages of dating. Think “too much too soon.”
Context Clues: “The date was going well until she told me she was in love with me, 1 hour into our first date!”
Netflix and Chill:
While it originally meant to literally hang out and watch the video-streaming service Netflix, in 2014 the meaning of Netflix and chill evolved to include romantically chilling with another person.
Context Clues: “So Ahmed invited me for Netflix and chill at his place, I got there and this boy didn’t have a Tv or laptop. lol.”
what other terms do you know? share in the comments section.
