'Frog-ization' is a new dating phenomenom gen-zers are experiencing in relationships

'Frog-ization' is one of the worst dating trends possible because it might be happening without you even knowing.

It seems like there's a new viral dating term every single week nowadays as we all desperately try to make some sense of the weird and wonderful world of romance in today's modern dating climate.

And now, there's a brand new one to add to the jam-packed list already containing the likes of red flags, beige flags, icks, and even getting zombied and you may not even know it's happening to you.

Ever found someone super attractive for ages only to find that your attraction almost instantly dwindled as soon as they started liking you back?

Well then, you my friend have been a victim of 'frog-ization'.

Katerina Holmes / Pexels

Maybe less catchy than some of the other viral dating terminology we've been hearing as of recent, this newly-coined phrase effectively the bizarre phenomenon when your crash starts appearing less attractive than ever before the minute they fancy you back.

It's clearly taking off over in Japan with the new buzzword landing itself the top spot on Japanese thinktank Zsouken's survey of 950 Gen Z-ers.

The outlet explains: "Zsouken, a think tank studying Generation Z, or those born from the latter half of the 1990s to around the 2010s, conducted an online survey between May 8 and 14 to which 950 people from junior high school age to 26 replied.

"Most Gen Z are social media natives, and many of their buzzwords also came from social networking platforms."

That's for sure.

Egor Kamelev / Pexels

The phrase 'frog-ization' or 'kaeru ka gensh' in Japanese literally translates to 'the phenomenon of turning into a frog' according to the report published by The Mainichi earlier this week on Wednesday (7 June).

It not-so-subtly alludes to the fairytale story of 'The Frog Prince' which sees a frog turn into a prince after a princess falls in love with him.

Completely flipping the OG tale on its head, 'frog-ization' is used to describe that all-too-relatable feeling when your rose-tinted glasses begin to wear off the second your love interest shows some interest back.

This, in turn, eventually leads the initial pursuer to come to the harrowing conclusion that they're potential beau was never all that attractive to begin with.

Dubbed as the country's own version of what we may know as the 'ick' - it's clear that such dating oddities are simply universal and cannot be avoided no matter where you are on the globe.

Yikes.

Topics: Sex and Relationships, Viral, Weird, Social Media

Rhiannon Ingle

Rhiannon Ingle is a Journalist at LADbible Group. She graduated from the University of Manchester in 2021 in English Literature. Alongside her studies, she was the Lifestyle Editor of The Mancunian, the largest student newspaper in the United Kingdom. Her favourite topics to write about include sex and relationships, bizarre lifestyle trends and all things travel.