What Does This Mean?
The ambiguous phase of getting to know someone romantically before either of you calls it an actual relationship — flirting, texting, and hanging out with no defined label yet.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
"We've been in the talking stage for three months and I still don't know what we are."
LORE & ORIGIN
Search interest in the underlying idea ("just talking") traces back to 2008, with the specific labeled phrase "talking stage" gaining traction through the 2010s and going fully mainstream via TikTok and Twitter dating discourse in the early 2020s. Already a well-established term, not a new 2026 coinage.
MENTIONS OVER TIME
Radar observation data not yet available for this term.
RELATED SEARCHES
TOP PLATFORMS
Not enough Radar data yet to show a platform breakdown.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR THIS?
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