CAUTION: Cuffing Season Ahead

Although Starbucks changed to their holiday-themed and Mariah Carey’s ultimate banger “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is basically every time of the day, it’s not feeling like the most wonderful time of the year. Why? Cuffing season, duh.

Urban Dictionary defines “cuffing season” as “during the fall and winter months [when] people who would normally rather be single or promiscuous find themselves along with the rest of the world desiring to be cuffed or tied down by a serious relationship.”

As strange as it may seem, there’s plenty of data to prove cuffing season is legit. In a poll conducted by the dating app Hinge, they found that 15 percent of its male users and 5 percent of its female users are more likely to be looking for a relationship in the winter than in any other season.

But why is this? What is it that makes cuffing season cuffing season?

The weather

“The cold weather and prolonged indoor activity causes singles to become lonely and desperate to be cuffed,” says Urban Dictionary. As temperatures drop below freezing, you start to find yourself spending less time outside meeting new people and going to parties, and more time inside binge-watching Netflix. But you don’t want to do this alone, and what’s better than watching Stranger Things with a significant other?

The holidays

The fear of going home for winter break and having your friends/relatives/neighbors/everyone you went to high school with ask why you’re still single looms through the bitter air. The dread of not having anyone to kiss on New Year’s sits even worse, and by Valentine’s Day, you’ll consider sending chocolates and a bouquet of roses to yourself and addressing them as “From, Your Secret Admirer.”

As magnificent and fulfilling as being in a relationship may be, there are some precautions to take when developing or searching for one during this particular time:

What are your intentions?

There’s nothing worse than a lack of communication in a relationship, so establish ground rules before hibernating with your significant other for the winter. Are you guys long-term or short-term? Are you just looking for a cuddle buddy or for a serious take-home-to-meet-the-parents kind of thing?

Calling it quits

What do you do when cuffing season is over, when the sun comes out and it’s finally warm enough to go out again and meet new people and create new relationships? Do you cut ties completely and assimilate to single life once again? Or do you just bask in the love and light of this newfound relationship and spend the summer together? Remember, cuffing is a step above hooking up, so just staying friends might not be a possibility and cutting ties might be a lot harder than it seems.

Before you go on your Tinder swiping spree, consider whether it is better to cuff yourself to a warm sweater than it is to an actual person.