Lexicon ·
zumping
noun, also verb (to zump)
- Stated meaning
- Ending a relationship over a video call.
- Operating meaning
- A breakup delivered face to face, at a distance from which either party can end the call.
- Origin
- Named by the Guardian on April 13, 2020, after a viral post about a breakup over Zoom during the pandemic lockdowns. Cambridge Dictionary entered it that May.
In April 2020 a 26-year-old asked on Twitter, Fox News reported (opens in a new window), “Am I the first person who’s been dumped via zoom?” The post drew over 63,000 likes. The Guardian (opens in a new window) answered with a name and a set of variants: “Skumped? Zumped, FaceTumped, Housepumped, it is all much of a muchness,” and a line to use: “It’s not you, it’s your broadband connection.” Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new window) entered it in May: “the act of ending a relationship by telling the other person during a video call.”
The etiquette had a ranking already, and video was not on it. In a 2019 survey, Pew found (opens in a new window) that “Much smaller shares say it is at least sometimes acceptable to break up through a text message (14%), email (14%) or a private message on a social media site (11%).” Lockdown removed the in-person option, and the video call was promoted into its place as the nearest thing to a room.
Under load, the call delivers every part of an in-person breakup except the exit. Both faces are on screen and the news is given to them directly, which meets the standard. Neither party has to leave anywhere afterwards. The meeting ends with a button, and whoever presses it first has also had the last word.