Thought of the Day - February 14 2022 - Pandemic Dating

Here we are Valentines Day 2022. I thought it fitting to provide a quick update on all the "dating vernacular" that has evolved during the pandemic. Of course not being on the circuit myself I cannot comment on whether any or all of these are common across Canada but they are amusing nonetheless.

The first one I came across at the end of 2020 was your "COVID number". Meaning how many partners you have had since COVID started. This was a measure of where you may be on the scale from hesidating to baecationing (heading out on vacation with a blind date or someone you really don’t know very well). That is unless you have FODA, the “Fear of Dating Again.”

To show how far the terminology has come Forbes just published an article that posed the question: Are you Dar-WIN-ing and hesidating because you are gambiting and don’t want to end up wasting your time and applying Piers Pressure on all of your dates?

You, like me, probably have no idea what this means.

One of the first terms that showed up early in 2021, was the F-word. No, not that F-word. The new dating-related F-word for 2021 was Fauci, as in “to Fauci” someone. When you “Fauci” someone, you avoid dating that person because he or she doesn't seem to be taking COVID-19 or COVID-19 precautions seriously enough. Of course since then, with all of the "we did not fund gain-of-research" or "follow the science" deceit, this term has moved on, becoming more synonymous with the other F-word ( Thought of the Day - November 1 2021 - The Smoking Gun ).

With Fauci continuing to apply, so does its dastardly counter-move: "masquerading". This is when you pretend to care about and adhere to COVID-19 precautions just to charm a potential date. And on the other hand, if you don’t want to date someone who believes keys will stick to your forehead after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, you are probably Dar-win-ing.

Other terms from 2020 and early 2021 remain applicable as well. People are still using video platforms to meet and have vates (virtual or video dates), to Zoomlander (being more interested in checking yourself out on camera during a Zoom date than looking at the other person), and to zump (the combo of Zoom and dump) each other.

If you are finding that the pandemic has brought a need for a more strategic approach to dating, you are probably gambiting, which comes from the chess term for making calculated opening moves. One option is communidating when you use dating apps not just for dating and intimate relationships but to make friends and connections.

And of course, there is all the physical distancing etiquette to consider. Whereas before you may have more freely hugged in the past, there may now be handticipation. Do you actually go through with the pressing bodies to each other and hug thing? Do you shake hands? Or should you wave to each other, do the wink and gun gesture, or get out the semaphores?

Yes, the pandemic has also been a real game-changer for those already in a relationship. For example, our lodgers, that became pandemic refugees when the pandemic hit in earnest ( Thought of the Day - April 3 2020 - Changes at 3210 ), are now happily married and have a son! On the other hand, I am sure that in other cases the pandemic led to some resigning - when they finally realize that your serious relationship isn't going anywhere and make a move to end it. Or perhaps you’ve found yourself in a real-life romantic comedy. You are doing some staycationing and finally romantically connecting with that person who’s been around you all this time.

Anyway, now you are up to speed.

That said, you need to put this new knowledge to use soon as with the great news that Ontario is following Saskatchewan and Alberta in dropping their vaccine passport, dating might actually return to a new normal with the coming of spring - and with it, I'm sure, will come a plethora of new terms.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Cheers

Cliff