Talking stage
Etymology
From “talking” in the sense of casually seeing someone, a usage common in African American Vernacular English and youth slang, formalized into “the talking stage” by Gen Z dating discourse on social media in the late 2010s and 2020s.
noun · /TAWK-ing STAYJ/
The ambiguous early phase of getting to know a romantic prospect before either party commits to dating.
What it names
It names the undefined interval that modern courtship has stretched into its own stage: messaging, hanging out, and flirting without labels, exclusivity, or the word “dating.” Naming it lets people locate exactly where they stand — and to note, often with frustration, when a talking stage never advances.
Example
We’ve been in the talking stage for two months and I still don’t know if it’s going anywhere.
Related idea
A precursor to a situationship: the talking stage is exploratory and pre-commitment, while a situationship is an ongoing undefined involvement.