10 Dating App Terms You Should Know About

Online dating isn’t what it used to be. You don’t just message a bit and then meet up. Dating apps have become an entire culture of their own. This means there are new rules with new dating app terms for us. There are new behaviors and dating practices that are new to us.

Dating someone nowadays happens before you even meet. You talk on an app, you text, and maybe even video chat. And all of that happens before you even consider meeting up. Whether you want to stay up to date on the latest dating app terms or just want to know that what you’re going through can be labeled because others are going through it, this article is for you.

# Waldo-ing

You know who Waldo is, right? The guy with the glasses, the striped shirt, who looks eerily similar to everyone else? The whole point is you try to pick him out of a group photo. Waldo-ing, in terms of dating apps, is the same thing. It is when someone’s dating profile is filled with group shots where you guess which person is the one you’re talking to.

# Big Dick Energy

You may have heard this before. It seems self-explanatory, but it can be misconstrued as cockiness. BDE is actually confidence without the cockiness.

This is the opposite of a guy driving a muscle car to compensate for something. It is a guy who is confident in his emotions and masculinity without coming on too strong.

# Curve

Curving is sort of like throwing a curveball in baseball. For those that aren’t familiar with that practice, it is essentially making you think one thing but doing another.

A person who is doing this will keep talking to you. They will respond to your texts and build a connection but avoid any conversations about commitment or even meeting up.

# Zombieing

Zombieing and ghosting may sound similar at first, but zombieing is a bit more confusing. When someone ghosts, they just disappear never to be heard from again, but when they zombie, they rise from their imaginary grave.

This is someone you figured was out of your life, but then they come back from the dead. They may DM you, like a photo, or even straight up text you as if nothing happened.

# Freckling

Freckling is a cuter term for a summer fling. The same way many of us get freckles when we’re in the sun during summer, freckling is seeing someone while the weather is nice, but once fall returns it shuts down.

# Benching

Benching is another sporting term turned dating term. When someone sits on the bench in a sport, the coach puts them in if there is no one better to choose from. Sadly, it is the same in dating. If you’re being benched, someone is dating you casually, but letting you wait around for them while they see what else is out there. If they can’t find better plans, they reach out and expect you to be free. It isn’t cool.

# Haunting

Haunting is one step up from ghosting. Essentially you’ve been ghosted, but that ghost just pops up here and there. They may watch your stories and like your photos but won’t actually reach out. They just linger in the background.

# Thirst trap

A thirst trap can be featured on a dating profile, Instagram, or really anywhere online that you post photos. A thirst trap is an incredibly attractive or maybe even a provocative photo posted with the intention of grabbing someone’s attention.

This would be a guy posting a mirror selfie, a girl posting a new outfit photo, or anything along those lines.

# Kittenfishing

Kittenfishing is a cute term for something that is not so cute. It is a toned-down version of catfishing. You may not pretend to be someone else, but you certainly aren’t being yourself.

Where catfishing would be stealing someone else’s photos and even information, kittenfishing is tweaking your own photos and information. You may photoshop images or use photos from years ago on your profile. You may say you have a fancy job when in fact you have an internship at a fancy firm.

This may not be as bad as catfishing, but it is still certainly over the line when it comes to dating apps.

# Tindstagramming

Before I learned this term, I dealt with this a bit when using dating apps. This is when you don’t match with someone on a dating app, but they find you on Instagram and reach out there, hoping for another chance.