While this past year and a half have been a drab in most of our love lives, some people have been able to lock down partners even during this whole episode of social distancing. How? Well the fear of loneliness is powerful enough to make any commitment-phobe buckle down... but for how long?
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What is a quaranfling?
As defined by the Urban Dictionary, a quaranfling is a relationship that started right before or during the pandemic. It usually begins as an online encounter, and then blossoms into a lockdown relationship. You don’t need to be living with this person to be in a quaranfling, it can be an emotional or physical relationship. But what makes a quaranfling different from a real relationship is that these couples will most likely break up after restrictions have been lifted.
Now that life is going back to normal in the UK, many pandemic couples have been forced to think about this critical question. If you're one of them, here's how you can tell if your lockdown love is here to stay.
Are you both on the same page?
When a couple is in a quaranfling, the chances are that both parties are already aware that they are in a short-term relationship. If you’re still wondering about it, then you probably need to have a conversation with your partner so that you’re on the same page. Metro.co.uk spoke with dating expert Hayley Quinn who said:
The most important part of having a successful quaranfling is that both people are transparent about what their relationship goals are – if one person believes coupling up is for life, and the other sees it as shorter term fling, then that will quite obviously create issues
Have you met your partner’s friends and family?
When you’re in a relationship, you and your partner’s lives will naturally intertwine. You’ll meet their friends, they will meet your family. It’s inevitable! Even if you can’t meet your partner’s loved ones in real life, there’s always the internet. A big sign that your relationship might just be a quaranfling is if you’ve never been introduced to their circle.
Have you talked about the future of your relationship?
Do you and your partner ever talk about what you’re going to do after the pandemic is over? Maybe you’d like to take a trip together, or go on all the dates you missed out on during lockdown? You know a relationship has a future when you start making plans that you can look forward to together.
