Muscle Memory digital AugSept 2018 | Page 32

LIFESTYLE SEX + RELATIONSHIPS KIMBERLY MOFFIT: Relationship Expert  KIMBERLY MOFFIT IS CANADA'S FAVOU- RITE MEDIA RELATIONSHIP EXPERT. SHE HAS BEEN GIVING INFORMATIVE RELA- TIONSHIP ADVICE ON TV SINCE 2009, IN ADDITION TO RUNNING ONE OF CANADA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL THERAPY PRACTICES, KMA THERAPY. DECODE THE LINGO THE INTERNET DATING SLANG TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW Though we're still meeting in bars and going to see movies together, dating today would be largely unrecognizable to people 10 years ago; changes in how we find dates, how we treat them and how we describe ourselves to them have radically altered the dating landscape. To many, modern dating can seem like a mine- field of technical jargon; the phrase "My poly pansexual situationship ghosted me so I'm breadcrumbing this snack I had a half-night stand with last year, will you be my emergency call if he wants to Netflix & chill?" will be clear as day to some and unintelligible to others. If you find yourself in the latter category, this glossary of dating terms is for you. NETFLIX AND CHILL Dating / Trend BENCHING Dating / Move PRONUNCIATION: PRONUNCIATION: BENCH-ing Benching is when you're not into someone enough to commit to officially dating them, but you don't want them to move on and find someone else either, so you string them along just enough to keep them waiting on the side- lines for you. 30   MUSCLE MEMORY NET-flicks and CHILL Etymology:  You know when you're on a sports team but not actually playing, just waiting on the bench until the coach needs you? Yeah, it's the dating ver- sion of that. | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 In its original inception, "Netflix and chill" was a euphemism for a stay-at-home date that led to sex pretty quickly. The idea being: You invite your crush over under the premise of "just watching some Netflix and chilling" and then either abandon the movie pretty early or perhaps never even get to it, as hooking up becomes the main attraction.