"Can I take you out for a meal"?

[RachelTopliss]

Would you find this odd? It sounds like it's come from the 70s. What's a meal anyway? It sounds creepy. Lunch or dinner maybe yes but a meal?

I said I was busy.

Sounds normal to me. Whether I agreed to go or not would depend on other factors.

You’re being very weird.

What do you have for lunch or dinner if it's not a meal?

Yeah, utterly bizarre phrase. Block and end all contact. Maybe write to your local MP too, needs to be raised in Parliament.

Get a grip. That's normal where I'm from.

Response could be “that’s lovely, how about lunch on Friday or dinner on Saturday” - it’s putting the ball into your court to decide what level of intimacy you want (dinner tends to be considered more intimate).

Not odd in the slightest. Offers flexibility about what that meal is. Weird thing to get upset about.

Do you have anxiety?

I agree OP. Although I can’t explain why - a bloke once asked me out and said he’d get some ‘nice picky bits in’. I never turned up! Argh, what a cringe

Totally normal. You are being strange.

Hope you said no for his sake.

It's a perfectly fine way to talk to someone, your loss.

Totally normal - it means EITHER lunch or dinner, and it suggests that they are offering to treat you... although that should always be clarified ahead of time as sometimes people don't seem to think that phrases mean the same thing. A bit like 'next Friday' versus 'this Friday'. I would think it was a perfectly nice request and if you don't, then you don't have to accept, as indeed you didn't. Non issue.

‘Meal’ is a normal word in that context but I agree that ‘picky bits’ is really cringey!

You stood someone up because you didn't like the phrase 'picky bits'? Yes I agree, that is very cringe. And rude.

I think it’s a nice way of opening up the idea to a more casual brunch/lunch or a more formal/intimate dinner.
Sort of ‘ball’s in your court as to what you want to do’.
But yeah just sack him off 😂

“Creepy” and from the 1970s? Depends. Does he go by the name of Addams?

Do them a favour and decline the offer. If you can’t see that someone is offering something nice (to pay for lunch or dinner), it’s best you don’t have any contact with them.

Get back behind the sofa to sob and shake.

"Go out for a meal" = totally normal phrase

No. Not odd. Your response is more odd!

^

Seems perfectly normal to me.

I despair. A perfectly normal question met with bafflement and contempt. ‘Yes please’ or ‘No thank you’.

“According to the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary, a meal is defined as an occasion when people sit down to eat food, such as breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or it can refer to the food itself eaten at that time.”

what is the issue?

The fact you find it creepy, makes you super creepy.....ekkkk, how does your mind work 😱

I’m rarely shocked on here anymore but you’ve done it OP.

Yes it’s weird. And I mean your reaction.

He’s had a lucky escape IMO.