Photo: Justin Sullivan/Staff

More People Are Dumped This Weekend Than Any Other Time

science.

by jenny lee

PSA: a popular myth looms darkly over Thanksgiving weekend for couples—it's called the Turkey Dump. The term originates from the scenario where a high school couple returns home from their first year of college and one of them decides to call it quits, transforming what was once a happy holiday into a joyless season of licking wounds post-breakup. And before you breathe a sigh of relief because you're several years removed from college, the Turkey Dump is no longer limited to college freshmen looking to leave behind their high school sweethearts. Thanksgiving is a peak time in the year for break-ups, and it applies to everybody.

As LuLu—a women-focused dating app with a penchant for stats—points out, 36% of breakups occur this weekend, and the trend only continues between now and Christmas. (Another brutal time of the year is a few weeks after Valentine's Day, which is not-so-affectionately called The Spring Clean.) Womp womp.