Mosting is the depressing new dating trend that is like ghosting - but worse
The new term is an off-shoot of ghosting, where a date vanishes for no reason.
Anyone who has suffered the confusion of exchanging flirty texts with a Tinder match before they vanish for no apparent reason can now find comfort in the fact that there is a new word to describe your frustration: 'mosting'.
Mosting is a more specific offshoot of ghosting. The latter describes someone who cuts off all communication with a date - as if a chasm has opened up in the ground and sent them to a place without mobile phone signal.
A "moster", however, is a person who gushes with compliments and nears a declaration of love, then disappears without explanation, according to Mel Magazine – which coined the term.
Writer Tracy Moore created the word in response to a piece in the New York Times.
In it, writer Gabrielle Ulubay detailed how a Tinder match told her after sex: "I think you're the girl of my dreams," adding: "I can't believe we met on Tinder." He also stressed he wasn't just interested in casual sex, complimenting her character rather than her looks.
"'I know I don't [have to say these things] [...] but I mean it," he told her. Ulubay said that while she wasn't looking for a long-term partner, she was flattered by his advances. Then, poof! He was gone.
Dating coach Evan Marc Katz wrote that such disproportionate displays of affection might be the sign of an uncomfortable dater.
"People who are more experienced at dating are more likely to not get too high with a promising prospect or too low at a disappointing one," he wrote.
However, Moore isn't convinced. "I think he's going far too easy on the over-the-top schmoes who shoot love first and ask no questions later," she argued. And while her new word won't rekindle the flirty chat, it's reassuring to know victims of mosting aren't alone.