'Stashing' is the newest way to get screwed over in love

Hiding your love away isn't as romantic as it sounds.
 By 
Cassie Murdoch
 on 
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Feel like your new romance features a little bit too much alone time? You might have been stashed.

What now? Meet “stashing,” the newest relationship term to strike fear into our hearts. We’ve already been victims of “kittenfishing,” “breadcrumbing,” “gatsybying,” “haunting,” and, of course, the ubiquitous “ghosting.” And now we’ve got this to worry about.

Stashing, as the Metro reports, is that thing where you’re in a new relationship and everything seems great, except for one thing -- you’ve never met any of your new love’s friends or family.

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You’ve let this person fully into your life, but they haven’t even so much as acknowledged your existence on social media or introduced you to one of their pals. Uh oh, you’ve been stashed.

Basically you're being kept a secret for one reason or another, like a little treasure stashed away in an underwear drawer. Ugh.

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Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

When you press your partner about it, they’ll try to wriggle out of having to explain. Sorry to say, but they’re probably already in a relationship with someone else or have some other dark secret to hide.

The good news is that “stashing” is just a new name for something that people have been doing since the beginning of time. So this isn’t some new horror brought on by dating apps or Instagram. Still, it’s no fun.

But don’t take it personally. It doesn’t mean they find you too embarrassing to share with their nearest and dearest; it means they’re a liar. And the sooner you can un-stash yourself the better.

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Cassie Murdoch

Cassie Murdoch is Mashable's Culture Editor.. Before coming here, Cassie was Senior Culture Writer at Vocativ. She previously wrote for Jezebel and The Hairpin. Cassie spends most of her time thinking about and consuming cheese in all its glorious forms.

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