Stashing
- “dating someone who never introduces me to anyone”
- “I'm not on his social media at all”
- “the word for being kept a secret”
- “why won't they make us public”
:: COMPARE ::
StashingvsPocketing
The short answer
These are near-synonyms for the same behaviour — keeping a partner out of your wider life. 'Stashing' is used with particular emphasis on social-media exclusion; 'pocketing' emphasises being carried along but never shown.
Side by side
| Aspect | Stashing | Pocketing |
|---|---|---|
| Behaviour | Hiding a partner | Hiding a partner |
| Emphasis | Social media | Friends and family |
| Coined | 2017, UK press | Late 2010s |
| Difference | Largely interchangeable | Largely interchangeable |
| Image | Stashed out of sight | Kept in a pocket |
Which one you meant
Readers who land here meaning Stashing rather than Pocketing are usually searching for phrases like “dating someone who never introduces me to anyone”, “I'm not on his social media at all”, “the word for being kept a secret”.
Pocketing
- “my partner hides our relationship from friends and family”
- “we've dated for months but I've never met anyone in their life”
- “the word for being kept a secret by the person you're dating”
- “why won't my partner post me or introduce me”
Which came first
Pocketing. mid-to-late 2010s — Emerges as dating-app-era slang for hiding a partner, alongside its synonym stashing - which Dictionary.com credits to Ellen Scott in the UK paper Metro, August 2017. No coinage is documented for pocketing itself.
- mid-to-late 2010sPocketingEmerges as dating-app-era slang for hiding a partner, alongside its synonym stashing - which Dictionary.com credits to Ellen Scott in the UK paper Metro, August 2017. No coinage is documented for pocketing itself.
- August 2017StashingCredited to columnist Ellen Scott, writing in the UK outlet Metro.
Read either one in full