Whelming is the awful new dating trend where online matches boast about other women to make you think they’re in demand
FIRST there was ghosting, then breadcrumbing and even gaslighting, but a new dating trend to watch out for in 2020 has emerged.
‘Whelming’ is the latest term to be added to our dating dictionary, and it predominantly occurs on dating apps.
If you’re single, chances are you’ve got one or two apps downloaded on your phone, and you’re probably talking to a few people at a time.
But whelming is when you boast about all the matches you have and all the other people you’re talking to, showing off how ‘in demand’ you are.
Sometimes it’s dropped into the conversation, with your potential date saying something like ‘sorry for the delay in replying I was just chatting to so many other people’, or ‘I can’t meet up with you right away I’ve a lot of other dates’.
Other times it’s more subtle, with someone making a throwaway comment such as ‘why do all girls on here love bottomless brunch’ – implying they’re chatting to a lot of people.
The idea behind it seems to be ‘treat ‘em mean keep ‘em keen’, in the hope you’ll be more attracted to them if they show off how popular they are.
But most likely it’s going to have the opposite effect (please don’t settle for a whelmer, ladies).
With the vast number of dating apps and speed dating events, it’s entirely plausible someone could be chatting to loads of people at any one time, but here’s a hot tip – don’t tell your date that.
The term was coined by senior health editor at , Patia Braithwaite, who noticed the trend, mostly on Bumble.
She brushed it off as a one-off, but after it kept happening she chatted to her friends and realised there was a pattern.
Plus from Keanu-ing to Paxmanning, here are the new dating trends you need to look out for in 2020.
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