I say this to both men and women: Why not gather the courage to go up to the person you like and say, "I would like to take you out on a date sometime"? Once you get over the shock that you did just that, a wonderful thing happens. You get a yes or a no. And you know that decision is based on if the person likes you enough to possibly see themselves sticking their tongue down your throat. Which means, in the end, you don’t have to end up paying for a few drinks and dinner, only to have the person across from you say, "Oh, I just never could see you like that."What we'll end up doing is to eliminate the overanalyzing of conversations with friends, the frantic Google searches to see whether or not the tone in how they asked you to hang matters, and the embarrassment of not knowing whether or not you are on a date.And if the word "date" seems a little circa 1950, how about: "I really like you and want to hang out, just the two of us, some time. Would you like that?" This is better — much better.But for now, I will still hold out for the word " date ," and help with its comeback.Originally published at Thought Catalog . For more writing like this, follow Thought Catalog on Facebook, here , or (if images are your vibe) on Instagram, here This month, we're sharing steamy personal stories, exploring ways to have even better sex, and wading through the complicated dynamics that follow us into the bedroom. Here's to a very happy February. Check out more, right here