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Are you being Scrooged before the holidays? How to spot it

This one will definitely land you on the naughty list.
Scrooging is breaking up with someone right before the holidays, just to avoid buying them a gift.
Scrooging is breaking up with someone right before the holidays, just to avoid buying them a gift.Getty Images
/ Source: TODAY

If you're starting to think there are more dating trends than you can keep track of, you're not alone.

From breadcrumbing to zombie-ing, everyone is confused at this point. And now there's a "new" one, just in time for the holidays: Scrooging.

Scrooging is when you dump someone right before the holidays to avoid buying them a gift — and it will definitely land you on the naughty list.

As the BBC points out, mid-December is a popular time for break-ups. But, we'd argue, perhaps the cruelest.

In case you need a refresher, here are all the other wacky dating terms that have made their way into the modern lexicon.

Breadcrumbing

Breadcrumbing is stringing a potential partner along without committing, often by sending occasional check-in text messages, but never asking for an actual date.

Breezing

Breezing means being direct and saying what you want in a relationship. The opposite of following dating "rules" or playing games. Yes, this one is actually good.

Cushioning

Having a plan B in case your current relationship doesn't work out. Cushioning can be outright cheating on an exclusive partner, or it can be sending flirty texts to multiple people so that if one falls through, you have someone else to turn to for romance.

Gatsbying

When you post something — say, a snapshot of your travels abroad, or a particularly sexy selfie — just so your crush will see it, according to model Matilda Dods, who coined the term. In other words, when you throw a party on the 'gram.

Ghosting

Ghosting is exactly what it sounds like: Disappearing without warning after a series of dates or romantic correspondences.

Kittenfishing

Presenting yourself in an overly positive light on the internet, by lying about your height or posting a photo from when you were a few years younger, for example. Kittenfishing is not as extreme as catfishing, in which someone assumes a completely fake identity online.

Orbiting

When someone continues to follow you, even after they've ghosted. (See above.) They'll like your Facebook posts or watch your Instagram stories, for example, but won't say anything.

Rebating

Venmo-ing someone for half of the cost of a first date after learning they're not interested in a second one.

Stashing

Refusing to introduce the person you're dating to friends or family — sort of like stashing them in a drawer.

Submarining

Jumping back into a relationship or a fling after ghosting. So, basically submarining is ... Zombie-ing. (See below.)

Zombie-ing

Hitting someone up after a long period of silence. (Or, you know, returning from the dead.) A form of breadcrumbing (see above).

This article was originally published on May 2, 2018.