The halls of West High are constantly filling with new pop-culture slang. “Roasting,” “kms,” “I’m dead!” and many other terms are becoming integrated into students’ everyday vocabulary. But one, perhaps, is the most peculiar of all – “cuffing season.” Urban Dictionary describes the term fairly accurately: “During the Fall and Winter months people who would normally rather be single or promiscuous find themselves along with the rest of the world desiring to be ‘cuffed’ or tied down by a serious relationship. The cold weather and prolonged indoor activity causes singles to become lonely and desperate to be cuffed.”

But do the chilly weather and dark skies actually affect people’s relationship cravings? The West Side Story asked some seniors who have already dipped their toes in the dating scene about their opinions on the so-called phenomenon.

Mary Mondanaro ’17 strongly agreed with the premise of cuffing season. When asked if she believed there was any truth behind the spectacle, she responded, “Yes, completely. There’s a different energy during the holidays.”

Nathan Abramoff ’17 also backed the idea of cuffing season, but for a different reason. He thinks that instead of an energy shift, there is a more primal explanation for the phenomenon.

“We are all animals when you get down to flesh and bone. When it gets cold and you can’t scavenge for food, you want to go inside and be warm with your partner. Everything cools down in the winter. People want to find someone to hunker down with during the cold winter,” he said.

However, not all West students share the same opinion. Micah Smith ’17 does not believe there is very much truth behind cuffing season.

“If someone really wanted a relationship they wouldn’t wait.”

When asked what season he’d like to enter into a relationship during, he responded, “Definitely summer, because there’s time to hang with friends and no schools.”

Nonetheless, Smith doesn’t fully deny the shift of relationship mindsets during the cold winter months.

“I don’t 100% disagree with the idea. I just think that it’s way overblown and shouldn’t be called ‘cuffing season.’”