In shortReaders who land here meaning Paperclipping rather than Zombieing are usually searching for phrases like “an ex pops up randomly with no real intention”, “someone who disappeared keeps resurfacing to say hi then vanishing”, “the word for a person who reappears just to keep me interested”.
Paperclipping
“an ex pops up randomly with no real intention”
“someone who disappeared keeps resurfacing to say hi then vanishing”
“the word for a person who reappears just to keep me interested”
“why do they message me every few months and then go quiet”
Zombieing
“someone who ghosted me came back like nothing happened”
“my ex texted 'hey stranger' after disappearing for months”
“the word for a ghoster who suddenly reappears”
“why do people come back after ghosting you”
03
03 · Which came first
Which came first
In shortZombieing. mid-2010s — Emerges as a spin-off of 'ghosting' — when a ghost comes back from the dead, they become a zombie.
mid-2010s
Zombieing. Emerges as a spin-off of 'ghosting' — when a ghost comes back from the dead, they become a zombie.
2019
Paperclipping. Illustrator Samantha Rothenberg posts a viral image of Microsoft's Clippy delivering a flaky, non-committal message.