When did going out for an evening turn into "date night"?

[MoodySky]

Sorry but it's such a crap expression.

Lots of this has been around for longer than we think. I became aware of 'Dating' in the American sense when reading teenage romance novels from the public library in the 80s and wondering if this was at all like the practice of 'going out with' someone that went on at my secondary school. (It wasn't.)

I know! Everything needs an expression these days! I also hate reaching out!

"Making memories" 🤮

Yes I completely agree . I find cake smash vulgar TBH ! My now 29 year old son wrecked his first birthday cake when I wasn’t watching him ..I was really upset that his beautiful cake was ruined,so many poor kids who never actually get a birthday cake!

It's up there with "reaching out", I get it In a work context and I absolutely loath it 'can I reach out to you' I'd love to reply 'no, you bloody can't, you can however ask for my advice".

This is an excellent point. The word "date" as in going out in a romantic sense is an Americanism that made its way into British English in the 20th century. So for those of you on this thread who have a particular zeal for British English not to be sullied by intersections with American English, you may want to consider avoiding using the word "date" in a romantic sense altogether.

When the rest of the street knows the husband if fucking the bird next door😂

When the rest of the street knows the husband is fucking the bird next door😂

(other post didn’t include the quote🤦🏽‍♀️)

I can’t stand “hack”.

Theres a MN thread going right now about “healthy meal hacks”

It’s just making a salad or a tray of roast veg ffs!

Same time that making memories, playdates, babyshowers, Elf on the Shelf and 2 week hen do's to the Caribbean became a thing I guess.

I think 'date night' is a regular event e.g. every Friday, or the last Friday of every month. The point is to schedule it in as an event, to avoid taking each other for granted.

Going out for a one-off event is just going out.

I go out every Saturday night with my husband. It's not a date night, we're just going out!

That's fine @namechangeGOT you're not obliged to do so.

'All X's are Y' does not equal 'All Y's are X'.

I've never ever heard anyone use it in real life

That in itself becomes boring and predictable. Go out when the mood takes you, not because it’s the last Friday of the month.

@SirChenjins - that only works if you have older dcs or family who are easily available to do childcare at short notice, for couples who need to book a babysitter in advance and /or have pretty hectic social lives, having a set date that is reserved for couple only night out avoids it just not being possibly when you fancy a night out together.

Found the comments about Human Resources becoming “people and culture” interesting, when I started working, it was just becoming common to say “human resources” and most of older colleagues hated it, said it made them sound like just another resource like a printer or a work van.

Yep. Just like people who refer to themselves as ‘Team Surname’.

And what about 'Daddy and daughter date night?'
CRINGE

Since social media became huge, society failed to develop enough to handle SM's innate problems and nothing in our lives was good enough any more.

That’s true - but again, it just means ‘we’re going out the last Friday of the month as always because the regular babysitter is booked for then’. I get that it’s nice to have a night out together but it’s the twee ‘date night’ that makes it sound ridiculous for grown adults years into marriage/ltr and kids - especially when they are posted on social media.

Does this affect me personally? No, none of these things do. Can I have an opinion on them? Yep.

It was just after people started high fiving each other.

Yes, I've never used the phrase but find it simultaneously twee and cute when others do - and yes I've heard it, from people I like.

I do think it's used by couples with young children, when protecting time and attention for each other can be hard.

My friends are all in their 50s like me - it’s definitely not just used by young couples.

Just go out fgs.

Also, my kids all go to 'House Parties'. We just called them Parties 😁