<p>I think that during my Mom's time, "dating" meant "we're going out Saturday night. Maybe it will turn into something else, maybe not. I am going on a date with someone else on Friday."</p>
<p>I think that after a while, some adults still do that--but what I've been talking about is kids or close to it. My kids don't "go out on a date" but my D's been dating this nice guy for more than a year. And I can't speak from experience, because I've been essentially seeing the same guy since I was 18.:)</p>
<p>So, to some people, like folks in their older twenties and up, there might be a "do you want to go out on Saturday night" approach, and that's dating. But for teens/college age/and for a while after, my experience and observations has been dating is "we're a couple".</p>
<p>Does that make any sense at all, or perhaps I'm talking in circles...Overall, I don't think we mean hugely different things.</p>