[Ads-l] "sugar dating", "compensated dating", "arrangement"

[Nancy Friedman]

"Sugar dating" has been around for a while; I devoted a blog post to it
(and to the Seeking company) in 2014:
https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2014/11/word-of-the-week-sugar-dating.html



On Mon, Feb 14, 2022, 5:02 AM Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:

> There was a (in my mind a weird-a$$) full-page ad in the Boston Globe on
> Sunday, on p. A4 that includes instances of "sugar dating," "compensated
> dating," and "arrangement". Granted, a couple of the instances have the
> terms in quote marks. The purported author is Brandon Wade, CEO of
> seeking.com
>
> Excerpts below.
>
> ---------
>
> My lack drove me to launch Seeking Arrangement in 2006 and to build it
> into the world's largest sugar dating website.
>
> ----------
>
> Mirroring my evolution, Seeking.com has shed its "arrangement" past.
> What started as a sugar dating site is so much more today. While
> compensated dating has always been banned, the phrase "sugar dating" has
> been increasingly misused, as such, Seeking.com is relaunching on
> February 14th at the largest platform for success-minded individuals who
> want to Just Date Up.
>
> ---------
>
> End excerpts.
>
> So, I find it interesting that we've got another use/extension of
> "sugar" as a euphemism for sex, and related to "sugar daddy", yes? And
> then that use of "up" as in social rung/class, as in "marry up".
>
> Honestly, I don't want to know just what "sugar dating" is. I think I
> can figure out what "compensated dating" is (just prostitution by
> another name?).  And if everyone there is wanting to "date up", uh,
> there's not going to be a lot of motion, because someone's going to have
> to date down. This excerpt also includes a nice instance of that much
> broader use/sense of "evolution" (But that's not semantically relevant).
> (Neither are the bits in the ad where he claims he's "legally waiving
> [his] right to a divorce," which, frankly, I don't think can be done,
> just as all those waivers and releases we skiers sign don't really
> release ski places from gross negligence.)
>
> ---Amy West
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org