Sex and the City vs. Second Base and the Suburbs

Last night was a real eye opener to the mishaps of teenage dating. You think I'd be well aware after being invited to "hang out" and subsequently "make out" on more than one occasion, but noooooo. Last night, for the first time, I really saw just how difficult it is to establish your feelings for another person. On Sex and the City and usually in adult life, flirting is followed up by a first date. In the sitcom of my life I have oh-so-cleverly labeled "Second Base and the Suburbs" (move along folks, there's definitely no sex here), flirting can be accompanied by a number of things, but "dinner" or a "date" is never one of them. Have we rendered the word "date" obsolete? And if so, how am I freaking supposed to tell the nature of the "hang out"? Asking someone to dinner is the most direct way of stating you're interested romantically, but asking someone to hang out is the most dense way of stating you could have a number of feelings.

So why have we stopped using the word "date"? Are we so afraid of actual romance that we'd sooner pretend it's dead than be upfront about our intentions?