SEX and Dating Terms (Video)
Do you ever wonder about how to describe your relationship with someone in English?
Nowadays, relationships are rarely black and white [clearly defined]. It doesn’t usually suffice just to say that someone is your boyfriend or girlfriend, or that you like someone.
So today, I’m going to give you 14 terms related to sex and dating so that you can describe your relationship with that special someone perfectly in English! Ready? Then let’s get started!
If you enjoyed this video, then remember to comment below. Let us know what kind of relationship you’re in!
Check out the original article with PODCAST here
Transcript:
Aww yeah, RealLifers, what’s going on?
This is Ethan with a special video for today. Today I’m going to talk to you guys about sex and dating terms in English.
Is this RealLife?
Alright guys, so, I don’t think this video will be too offensive, even though I’ll be talking about some terms that have to do with sex. So, don’t worry, this is going to be a great video for anyone to learn about some different vocabulary having to do with sex and dating.
The way I’m going to structure this is I’m going to start out by talking about the least amount of commitment level in a relationship, going all the way up to the highest level of commitment in a relationship, which would be marriage, of course.
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1. Acquaintance
Alright, so the first term I’m going to give you is acquaintance. So, an acquaintance is a person who you’ve just met.
So, you know, maybe it’s a friend of a friend, or someone that you met through an event, maybe one of the RealLife English Meetups, and it’s a person that you don’t really know very well, it’s not someone you’d call a friend, it’s just someone you just met.
So, that term is acquaintance.
2. Hanging Out
The next term up the commitment level would be hanging out.
So, feel free to check out this video here, which gives you some different phrasal verbs, including hang out, so you can learn what hang out means.
But hanging out, in, when we’re talking about relationships, means that you’ve just started to see someone, you’ve started doing things with them.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have any sort of sexual or romantic relationship yet. It just means that you’re doing things together, maybe as friends, maybe with an intention as more than friends.
3. The Friendzone
Alright, guys, so let’s go to commitment level number 3. So, the third term that I’m going to give you is friendzone.
So, friendzone is somewhere that nobody wants to be. When you’re in the friendzone, it means that you like this other person, you like them as more than a friend, but they don’t feel the same way, they just see you as a friend.
So, this is probably not where you want to be, it can make you feel very uncomfortable, it can be emotionally devastating sometimes, so let’s try to stay out of the friendzone.
4. Hooking Up
So, the next level of commitment is going to be hooking up.
So, check out this article that Justin wrote on all the different uses of the verb hook. Hooking up is one of them.
So, hooking up is a very vague term, but it means that you’re having some sort of romantic relationship with someone, but it’s not a very serious romantic relationship. It can mean that you’re either, have started hanging out, and anywhere from kissing all the way to having sex.
5. Friends With Benefits
The next term I have for you is friends with benefits. So, this is very similar to hooking up, but this might take it just to another level of seriousness.
This is two people that are friends, but that they have agreed to also have a sort of romantic, sexual relationship with no strings attached.
They’re just friends, they’re not dating, they’re not boyfriend/girlfriend, it just has to do with sex.
6. Seeing Someone
Alright, next would be seeing someone.
So, seeing someone, at that point there probably is some sort of exclusivity, or at least there’s an intention of seeing this person as more than just a friend, as seeing them as a boyfriend or a girlfriend.
You have some sort of romantic interest in them.
You might be seeing someone, it could mean that you’re going to movies with them, going out to dinner, doing those kind of things that people start doing when they’re first testing the water, so when they’re first trying out the relationship.
7. Going Out
Next is going to be going out.
So, this definitely sounds like you’re in an exclusive relationship at this point, pretty serious.
So this means that you’re going out with this person, it’s a phrasal verb, that means what it sounds like, it means that you’re going to different places outside of the house with them, so you’re going to a restaurant, to the movies… It’s very similar to the last term, but just a little bit more serious.
8. Dating
Ok. Next, we have dating.
So, when you’re dating someone, you’re definitely at the point of saying they’re your boyfriend or your girlfriend.
9. Exclusive
The next term is exclusive.
So, exclusive means that you’re only seeing this person.
You might already be, it’s kind of not a very well drawn line, if you’re going out, if you’re seeing someone, if you’re dating them, it’s not very well drawn if it’s completely exclusive or maybe you can be seeing this person and also be seeing someone else, but in most of these cases it means that you’re exclusive.
But at this point, we’re just definitely saying that you have agreed with this person to be exclusive. This is also where you might see, unfortunately, nowadays, being “Facebook official.”
This means that you’ve put that you’re in a relationship with this person on Facebook, so all of your friends there can see it, it’s public.
10. Going Steady
The next term I have for you is going steady.
So, going steady means that you’re seeing this person and it’s kind of serious.
Like, there is definitely some big romantic feelings, it means that, you know, you got kind of long term ideas, and things like this.
Going steady is kind of an older sounding term, we maybe don’t use it as much anymore, but it’s a good one to know because you might hear it.
11. Move In Together
The next one is moved in together.
So, you know, maybe in some countries it’s not too common to move in together until you’re actually married, however in the US it’s becoming more and more common, and I think it’s… that the same is true in a lot of other English speaking countries.
So, if you’re traveling, you might see this. People are boyfriend and girlfriend, and they live together, basically. They have a relationship where they’re comfortable enough together, they’re probably in love, and they’re living together at this point.
So, that’s moved in.
12. Engaged
Alright, guys, just got two more for you.
So, the next one is engaged.
When you’re engaged, it means that you have the intention to get married.
So, this is where the guy, usually the guy, gets down on one knee and proposes, with a ring, to the girl, asking her to marry him.
So, you can have an engagement of, usually it’s maybe 6 months or a year or something like that, between going from being a boyfriend and girlfriend, to getting married, so it’s in… it’s the time in between those two.
13. Marriage
Alright, so, next, obviously, is marriage.
After you’ve had your engagement, hopefully it’s all worked out, still going well, you’re going to get married.
And I think that this is pretty self explanatory, marriage is similar across different cultures, maybe the actual ceremony can be quite different, but for most of us it means the same thing, being married.
And… Divorce
And then, just one last thing to talk about is divorce.
So, in the US, unfortunately, it’s become very common that people don’t last a long time in marriages.
More and more people are getting divorced nowadays, the divorce rate has gone up substantially over the past 20, 30, 40, 50 years.
So, it’s something that’s quite common, to find someone who is divorced.
That’s it!
Alright guys, so I hope that you found these sex and dating terms useful, add them to your vocabulary, be sure to use Anki, it’s a great tool to help you memorize.
You can check out this video here to find out about some other great memorization tools.
And, the most important, start using them.
Alright, so, I’ll see you guys next time.
Have a good day. Later!