Ghosting is low-key one of the most annoying modern dating phenomenons to every occur. Since the onset of dating apps, dropping in and out of someone’s life has become incredibly easy.When the. My father taught me how to play poker next to the Murphy bed. After every deal, he said 'the pot is right.' Whose pot is right & why: the ghost of a failed general strike. In his metallic mauve Altima the Black & Mild's cut sharpie-sized holes in the tan leather interior. Every cigar, every car: the ghost of a failed general strike.

In the digital age, there is a slang word for just about everything, even for the heartbreaking abandonment of a loved one. Whether it's a friend, relative or beloved celebrity, people come and go in life, even with the internet's profound ability to connect even the loneliest corners of the Earth. In fact, there is a term for when someone who was once a staple in your life slowly begins fading away, and that's 'ghosting.'

Frank Ocean has been ghosting fans for years on end, after promising new music would arrive in 2015 but instead crawling into a hole and vanishing from thin air. Your cool uncle who ditches all of the family holidays because he's busy traveling the world is ghosting your relatives, but likely for a much sweeter reason than Ocean's. When you see that acquaintance from high school on the street and the two of you say, 'Yes! We definitely need to hang out,' the two of you are literally ghosting each other in real time.

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It's arguably one of the most popular phrases that's rolled over from 2015, as it can be used for a variety of situations and experiences. But where does it come from?

When Charlize Theron shared with the world how she slowly stopped dating Sean Penn by ignoring calls and text messages in 2015, the mainstream media became aware of the term and its several uses. The New York Times wrote a comprehensive explainer on ghosting, in fact, shortly after the former celebrity power couple officially parted ways.

The Times reported the term originates from the noun 'ghost,' and is instead used as a verb in its modern slang form. A YouGov/Huffington Postsurvey showed that 11% of Americans polled ghosted someone at some point. Similarly, over 15% of men studied admit to being the ghost at some point, while over 25% of women said they've ghosted someone before.

'I couldn't bring myself to respond,' one woman explained to the Times as to why she had ghosted a potential love interest. 'I was not emotionally available. I could have explained this to him, but did not want to for fear of coming off, and potentially being written off, as overly complicated.'

Today, the term ghosting can be taken a step further, to describe someone's desire to recklessly abandon all responsibility from a person, project or simply in general. 'You ever get so overwhelmed with school/life and look up flights to other countries and contemplate ghosting?' Corrine wrote on Twitter Tuesday, likely only half-joking.

Check out some other ways to properly use the term ghosting:

• 1.Leaving without saying goodbye
• 2.Observing an enemy player

Ghosting means leaving without saying goodbye. It may refer to when a person leaves a social gathering without saying goodbye or when a person cuts off contact without warning.

Ghosting is done by people who don't want to go through the drawn-out process of saying their farewells to others when all they want to do is bounce. The term is also known by some as the French exit or Irish goodbye. Ghosting may also appear as just 'ghost.'

Ghosting is not only limited to the context of leaving social gatherings. It is also used in the dating world when a person abruptly cuts off contact with another person. He or she may stop texting or emailing without giving a reason and just vanish like a ghost, without a trace.

Ghosting in romantic relationships is a tactic employed by people that are afraid of conflict or are just plain lazy. It is typically done by men who are bad at communication but may also be done by females.

One reason ghosting has become more popular recently is the reliance on technology to connect with others. So instead of breaking up with someone face-to-face, over-the-phone, or in a letter, people find it much more convenient to text or email the person. In regards to ghosting, many people prefer to just not answer their SO's phone calls, texts, emails, or social posts and wait for them to take the hint.

While this method of breaking up is easier for the one doing the breaking up, it is extremely frustrating for the person he or she is breaking up with. So it is wise to avoid ghosting if you don't want to leave a trail of bitter exes.

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Last Updated: August 29, 2017

A gaming term where a player watches an online stream of another player (e.g., on Twitch) while playing against him in order to gain an advantage.

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Ghosting Poker Terms

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Poker Terminology Ghosting

Last Updated: January 29, 2013