Roster
what it means
A sports metaphor applied to dating. Having a roster implies deliberate portfolio management rather than accidental overlap.
The set of people someone is casually dating or talking to at the same time.
the origin story
Sports vocabulary applied to dating, widespread on Twitter and in dating media from the mid-2010s.
It became one of several sporting metaphors for modern dating — roster, bench, starting line-up — that frame it explicitly as a numbers game. Whether that framing is honest or cynical is a live argument in dating discourse.
in the wild
How many people are you talking to?
The roster is four deep currently.
Does everyone know?
Everyone knows. That's the rule.
how to use it
- Describing dating several people at once
- Casual conversation with friends
- Dating discussions
- Professionally
- About committed relationships
- In a way that suggests deception is fine
related terms
receipts
Community feedback
keep scrolling
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