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

[Dan Goncharoff]

I wonder if "date up" is a euphemism for "hook up".

On Mon, Feb 14, 2022, 9:38 AM Nancy Friedman <wordworking at gmail.com> wrote:

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

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