Key takeaways
- Floodlighting: sharing very personal stories or past pain early, often to test or speed up closeness.
- Throning: dating someone mainly for the status or attention they bring.
- Pookie: an affectionate nickname for someone you love.
- Breadcrumbing and soft ghosting are both ways of avoiding a clear answer.
- The kindest way to end things is still a short, clear message.
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What does floodlighting mean?
Floodlighting means sharing very personal stories, past trauma or deep feelings early in dating, often in the first few conversations. Sometimes it's a test of whether the other person stays; sometimes it's a way to rush closeness. It often backfires, because the other person feels pressed to match it before any trust exists. Google says it was India's top dating search in 2025.
What does throning mean?
Throning is dating someone mainly for the status, money, popularity or attention they bring: treating them as a way up rather than as a partner. It was the most trending dating-related search on Google in India in 2024.
What does pookie mean?
Pookie is an affectionate nickname for someone you love, whether a partner, a close friend or even a pet, much like “babe” or “sweetheart”. It was among the viral words Indians looked up the meaning of on Google in 2025.
What do breadcrumbing, soft ghosting and benching mean?
These all describe ways of keeping someone around, or letting them go, without saying anything clearly.
- Breadcrumbing: sending just enough messages to keep someone interested, without ever committing to plans or a relationship.
- Ghosting: ending contact suddenly, with no explanation.
- Soft ghosting: letting a conversation die with short replies or emoji reactions instead of saying it's over. In a 2026 QuackQuack survey, 44% of daters aged 22 to 28 said they do it.
- Benching: keeping someone as a back-up option while you see whether something better comes along.
- Orbiting: stopping contact but still watching their stories and posts.
- Situationship: a romantic connection that's never been defined. Full explanation here.
What do love bombing, soft launch and delulu mean?
Some of the terms for showing interest are sweet; one is a warning sign.
- Love bombing: overwhelming someone with attention, gifts and affection very early. It can be genuine excitement, but it's a red flag when it turns into pressure or control.
- Soft launch: hinting at a new partner on social media, a hand or a shadow, without showing their face.
- Hard launch: posting your partner openly.
- Delulu: short for delusional, used jokingly about romantic hopes that don't match reality.
- Red flag and green flag: a warning sign, and a reassuring one.
Is there a kind way to end things?
Young Indian daters say they want one. In QuackQuack's 2026 survey of 9,347 daters aged 23 to 35, 51% called this the “soft exit season” and 48% said they prefer a kind rejection. The kindest version is still short and clear: “I've enjoyed talking, but I don't see this going further.” If you're the one who wants more, here's how to define the relationship.