In Her World, Getting Cheated On Makes You a ‘Chump’

Tracy Schorn has cultivated a personal philosophy of cheating, one that views infidelity as a form of abuse and absolves the betrayed of any role in their own betrayal.

Perhaps more notably, she has also created a very specific language to discuss it.

The cheated-upon are known as “the chumps.” The affair partner is called the “schmoopie.” The cheater feeds off “ego kibble” and often benefits from a partner’s “spackling” — the excuse-making that a chump undertakes in a desperate attempt to salvage a relationship.

Ms. Schorn, a cartoonist and former journalist who has run a blog called Chump Nation since 2012, says this snarky approach allows victims of infidelity to process their realities, all while adding levity to a difficult time.

“I tried to create the kind of support site that I wish existed when I went through it,” Ms. Schorn, who is 57 and lives in Waterford, Va., with her husband, said in an interview. She compares the site’s straight-shooter approach to the voice of a “best friend that’s just going to grab you by the lapels and go, ‘Stop it, you’re being manipulated.’”

Her blog’s supportive ethos; her oddball terms and phrases, like “the pick-me dance”(the competition one can be goaded into with an affair partner); her comic strip-style cartoons lampooning cheaters and their exploits: All are in service of her mantra, “Leave a cheater, gain a life.”