You’re texting someone who never asks questions. They respond with an nondescript emoji whenever possible. They reply, but always a day late (“So sorry, I just saw this!”).

You haven’t been ghosted. You’re being curved.

That’s the new way to reject and be rejected when dating in the age of apps. Similar to its subtle cousins benching, cushioning, bread-crumbing, and orbiting, stashing, curving is what you can call all of the dating communication that implies “see ya” in not-so-many-words.

It can be a minefield out there. Curving is Urban Dictionary-official, so one thing’s for sure: if you’re the curver or curvee – it’s a thing, so you’re not alone.