Everything You Need to Know About Cuffing Season
If you're even remotely interested in the world of dating, you've likely heard the term "cuffing season."
Apparently the changing of the weather also brings massive changes to our dating lives—at least, that's what Urban Dictionary and the general human population would like you to believe.
Whether you think cuffing season affects you or not, being fully informed about this social trend may be able to explain your dating life in the cooler months of the year.
With that in mind, keep scrolling for everything you need to know about cuffing season.
What Is Cuffing Season?
Cuffing season basically describes the general social trend of people searching to be tied down during the fall and winter months. As the fun of summer starts to fade and the weather gets cooler, spending time indoors cuddling with a cute significant other starts to become more and more attractive. Not to mention, the holidays always seem to have a way of making everyone feel lonely, which only increases the urge to find a steady romantic partner. To put it most simply, cuffing season refers to the fall months when everyone suddenly starts to become involved in serious relationships.
Why 'Cuffing'?
Apparently the term "cuffing" derives from handcuffs, because you're tying yourself down to one other person for an entire season. If that lovely definition wasn't romantic enough for you, it also has connotations of being shackled into a relationship until winter ends and cuffing season officially comes to an end.
When Does Cuffing Season Start?
Believe it or not, there actually isn't an official start or end date to cuffing season. It does seem to be generally agreed upon, however, that people start to lock down their cuffing season partners in late Oct./early Nov., often making the relationship truly official right before Thanksgiving. Of course, no relationship can be on a single schedule, so your own timeline would be based on your individual relationship and the feelings involved there. Still, if potential love interests seem to come out of the woodwork in the next few weeks, you now know what to blame.
How Long Does It Last?
This is where things get tricky. Now, we're not saying that your cuffing season relationship is doomed to fail. In fact, you might find someone you genuinely care about and carry your relationship way past the official end of cuffing season. However, sometimes these seasonal relationships are based a little more in loneliness than in a real desire to have a serious romance. If that happens to be your relationship, you can probably except things to start fizzling around March, when the weather starts to get warmer and all the big holidays are officially over. We're not staying you should put your dating life into hibernation all winter, but if you're expecting a long and serious romance you should be just a little bit wary of anyone who suddenly wants to date you during these cuffing season months.
So What Do I Do?
Our only advice is to simply be a little on guard of your dating life during the next few months. If you're open to a relationship that won't necessarily last a lifetime (as most young people are), then don't stress yourself out too much about the perils of cuffing season. However, cuffing season still involves painful and difficult emotions, especially if things end before you're ready to let go of your partner. If you want to avoid unnecessary pain, don't let the winter loneliness suck you into a relationship you don't need. Cuffing season is no more than a trend, meaning you are still fully in charge of your dating life. Now that you know cuffing season is a thing, you can make your next romantic decisions accordingly, whether they lead you to a relationship or not.
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