Gen Z Terms Expecially For You

We’ve already heard innumerable kilig love stories and painful break-ups from ex-couples who willingly opened up about their past relationships on national TV in It’s Showtime’s trending segment “Ex-pecially For You”.

But aside from gaining new perspectives and lessons about love through the stories of the participants and the points of view imparted by the hosts through their discussions with the participants, viewers are also able to enrich our vocabularies with modern terminologies about dating and relationships. And in this Kapamilya Update feature let’s refresh our memories of the Gen Z terms that we’ve learned over the past months.

He may be part of the so-called Generation X, but it truly amazes us that Vice Ganda is well-versed when it comes to anything Gen Z – from the music and fashion to the language. And he’s able to share some of what he knows as he tries to explain the situation of the ex-couples to the madlang people and his co-hosts who aren’t familiar with Gen Z speak.

While we all know that “cheating” means having an illicit affair while being in a relationship, we found out that there’s a subtle form of it called “micro-cheating.” It entails “liking” the social media posts of another person and talking to him/her with the intention of flirting with him/her – apparently unbeknown to your significant other.

For sure, many of us have already the term “ghosting,” which refers to the act of abruptly cutting any form of communication and disappearing without explanation as someone’s way of ending a relationship. But have you heard of “zombie-ing”? Based on the Unkabogable Star’s elucidation, it’s similar to “ghosting” yet the difference is that the person who did it reappeared out of the blue as if nothing happened or as if he/she didn’t hurt the feelings of his/her partner.

Vice and his co-hosts then had their “eureka” moment upon hearing the term “RS” during their discussion with Gen Z ex-couple Pola and Dean. Just when many probably assumed that it stands for two words, Pola revealed that it simply means “relationship.”

Have you ever felt jealous about the past of your special someone? Well, that’s actually called “retroactive jealousy” according to the Unkabogable Star, which he disclosed upon hearing one of the reasons why ex-couple Carlo and Bianca broke up. He related, “Dahil may alam ka sa nakaraan ng partner mo, mayroon siyang issue na nililikha sa sarili mo…’Yong nagseselos ka doon sa mga bahagi na may kinalaman sa past niya.”

A lot of people in “situationships,” or romantic relationships that aren’t fully established, were surely able to relate to the story of Gen Z couple Micohle and Xien. While this already causes confusion to the two parties involved in it, what more when one of them does “breadcrumbing.” Vice explained it as the act of showering someone to whom you have a mutual understanding with bits of your attention and care, or your “bread crumbs,” every time you feel that he/she will have the urge to leave while you’re also busily flirting with another person. It can be a form of manipulation as you try to control him/her by making him/her feel or assume that there’s really something romantic going on between the two of you.

And lastly, many madlang netizens were thrilled when Vice discussed the definition of the controversial Gen Z term “grooming,” the process wherein an adult establishes an emotional connection with a minor in order to gain full control of him/her. As ex-couple Miyuki and DJ imparted that their love story began when she was only 17 while he was already 25, the Unkabogable Star clarified if there’s no grooming that happened between them and went to elaborate that this often includes abuse, manipulation, or exploitation regardless of the age according to the psychologist they consulted regarding this case.

Get your daily dose of entertainment and even information from the hosts and “Expecially For You” participants by not missing an episode of It’s Showtime, Mondays to Saturdays at noontime on Kapamilya ChannelKapamilya Online Live, A2Z, GTV, and GMA 7.