Life

How To Decode Online Dating Slang

by Kaitlyn Wylde

In the age of digital love, men and women have left Shakespearian sonnets and rom com clichés behind for online dating slang. It is a natural progression, considering the change in medium, but a confusing progression nonetheless. Shakespeare might have been flowery, but the average reader could understand his character's implications. Rom-coms may be overdramatic, but the average viewer can clearly comprehend the characters' objectives. Online dating slang, however, is coded, reference-heavy, sometimes sarcastic jargon that requires a lexicon for anyone who is not currently logged on.

Millennials exist in a mentality that's sandwiched between explicit and impersonal. They want to be clear about their intentions and expectations but they don't want to appear cold or without personality. And so app slang was born. Online daters have built a rudimentary language that allows them to highlight their needs without neglecting their pop culture charm. And by coining phrases and terms to describe said needs, they become protected by the majority. If there was only one guy out there inviting girls to come over to Netflix and Chill, he'd probably be considered a creep and have a much lower success rate. But because the phrase is an accepted and widely used slang, its creepiness is significantly reduced and replaced with contemporary charm.

BuzzFeed Video asked online daters to break down the lingo, and here are a few highlights:

Chill

Chill means no expectations. It means not being accountable for other's feelings. It means no drama, no labels and no rules.

No hookups

No hookups means no late night calls or meaningless sex. It means a relationship is the objective and meeting for a drink at midnight after exchanging only hellos, is not in the cards.

Bio

Bios are important. If you're looking for right swipes, you must be interesting. But don't try too hard to be different. And if you define yourself as a fan of basic needs like caffeine or exercise, you might as well say you're a water-drinker or air lover, you're not impressing your potential match with pizazz.

The takeaway from this video is to be unmistakably clear with your intentions...by using roundabout popular phrases, duh.

Image: YouTube(4)