Love bombing, gaslighting, and the problem with pathologising dating talk

Words have always changed meaning, and the internet has only accelerated this process.

I understand why people take refuge in hyperbole to make their pain legible. But you can’t trick yourself out of feeling that pain through terminology alone.

This change in the way we use language is known as ‘concept creep’.

These developments, rather than being evidence of a society besotted with its own victimhood, indicate more nuanced understandings of harm and injustice. Concept creep can be a form of societal progress.