What it means
To ship two people is to root for them as a romantic couple, real or fictional, longing for them to get together: I totally ship those two. The hopeful matchmaking of a fan.
Usage examples
"I have shipped those two characters since season one."
"They would be so cute together, I ship it."
"I don't even care if the plot makes sense anymore, I just ship them."
"The second they started bickering on screen, Twitter was shipping them hard."
Where it comes from
Born in fandom spaces in the 1990s, ship came from relationship, first clipped to shipper for a fan who backed a pairing, then shortened again to ship as a verb. It spread from fan forums and zines into everyday internet talk for rooting hard for two people to get together.
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