breadcrumbing

breadcrumbing

breadcrumbing – sostantivo
breadcrumb – verbo
breadcrumber – sostantivo

Breadcrumbing is the fresh way for daters to mess with the people who are expressing unrequited interest in them.
If you’ve ever been breadcrumbed you’ll know how frustrating it is.
I went on a date with a guy two years ago and he’s been breadcrumbing me since then.
Breadcrumbers check in consistently with a romantic prospect, but never set up a date.

Dire che cercare l’anima gemella ai tempi dei social è un campo minato è dire poco, almeno a giudicare dalla quantità di espressioni nuove che nascono regolarmente per descrivere i mille modi in cui i (potenziali) partner sembrano tormentarsi a vicenda.

Forse ricorderete un post precedente dedicato al ghosting, ovvero il porre fine a una storia sparendo senza dare spiegazioni; ecco, il breadcrumbing è una pratica forse ancora più crudele. L’espressione deriva da breadcrumb, briciola, e significa “spargere briciole di interesse” lasciando intendere che si vuole portare avanti una relazione mentre invece non se ne ha la minima intenzione. I segnali, le briciole, che il (o meno spesso la) breadcrumber semina possono consistere in un messaggino saltuario o un mi piace su FB e o un cuoricino su Instagram ma anche in una vaga promessa di incontro che non si concretizza mai. Insomma, le briciole di interesse digitali non portano da nessuna parte: siete avvisati.

Origini del termine

Breadcrumbing prende spunto da Hansel e Gretel, la fiaba in cui i fratellini abbandonati nel bosco lasciano una scia di briciole di pane per ritrovare la strada di casa. Il termine ha fatto la sua comparsa nel 2017.

Traduzione di Loredana Riu

breadcrumbing
breadcrumbing – noun
breadcrumb – verb
breadcrumber – noun

Breadcrumbing is the fresh way for daters to mess with the people who are expressing unrequited interest in them.
If you’ve ever been breadcrumbed you’ll know how frustrating it is.
I went on a date with a guy two years ago and he’s been breadcrumbing me since then.
Breadcrumbers check in consistently with a romantic prospect, but never set up a date.

To say that the world of dating today is a minefield seems like something of an understatement, at least if we are to judge from the flow of new terms used to describe the ways in which people looking for a romantic relationship torment each other and are tormented in their turn.

In a previous post we looked at ghosting, the practice of disappearing from a relationship completely and without notice. Breadcrumbing is possibly even more heartless and soul-destroying. It involves leaving signs of interest through social and other media in order to persuade someone that you are still interested in pursuing a relationship with them when in fact you are not. These signs can range from occasional text or voice messages to likes on Facebook and Instagram to popping up out of the blue with vague promises to meet up at some unspecified time in the future that never come to fruition. This trail of digital morsels leads nowhere, because the heartless breadcrumber has already moved on, but just can’t bear to renounce all possibility of rekindling or even kindling a relationship.

Origin

Breadcrumbing comes from the fairy story of Hansel and Gretel who, abandoned in the woods, had left a trail of breadcrumbs they could follow to find their way home. The term appeared in 2017.

WordWatch è l'osservatorio sui neologismi della lingua inglese curato dalla redazione del dizionario Ragazzini.

A cura di Liz Potter