Shrekked, Benched, and Broke: A Psychologist Explains Gen Z's Dating Dictionary

Shrekking, frankensteining, clear coding, friendfluence, benching, situationships. If that list reads like a foreign language, you’re not alone, and a relationship psychologist says you don’t actually need to learn it. Dr. Orion Taraban breaks down the viral vocabulary on his YouTube show PsychHacks, and his verdict is simple: most of it is just something recycled with a new label. Benching is being someone’s backup. A situationship is a relationship that won’t define itself. The slang is new, the behavior is not.

The numbers behind the terms are the part that stings. Taraban says the average date now costs around $225, describes an app landscape where roughly 85% of women date only 15% of men with about a 1% success rate, and notes a third of men under 30 report no sex in a given year. High costs, low odds, and endless labels add up to a generation that’s exhausted before the appetizers arrive.

The good news? Taraban points to a real shift he calls wildflowering: ditching the checklist and letting a connection grow on its own terms. He says women are moving past the rich-and-handsome fantasy and asking a better question, how do I find a good man? Character over credentials might be the only dating trend worth keeping. So which term describes your love life right now? Drop it in the comments and let’s compare notes.