First Date Ideas, Rated by Cost, Noise and Time
Twenty-six ideas scored on what actually decides a first date: what it costs for two, whether you can hear each other, how long it takes and how easy it is to leave.
Dating Terms
Modern Dating Terms, Defined
Sixty words, from talking stage to sneaky link, grouped by what is actually happening - with the dictionaries and studies behind them.
Inside this guide
- Most dating slang names one of six situations
- Dating got a new vocabulary because most of it now happens in writing
- Before it’s official: words for the undefined stage
- Mixed signals: terms for someone who is only half in
- Endings and reappearances: how people leave, and how some come back
- Warning signs: terms that describe manipulation or deception
Dating
All topicsFirst Date Questions That Get Past Small Talk
Twenty-eight questions, what to listen for in each answer, and what studies of real first conversations say about the question that matters most: the second one.
Dating Rules, Explained: Where the 3-3-3, 3-Day and 3-Month Rules Came From
Eleven popular dating rules, each with its first documented appearance, what the research found and a short verdict.
What a First Date Costs in 25 US Cities
We read 160 published prices, from cocktail menus to official taxi tariffs, to find what a first date for two costs in 25 US cities in September 2026.
The First Date Cost Index
We priced a first date for two in 25 US cities from menus, museum pages and official taxi tariffs. Every one of the 160 prices has its source and the date we read it, September 27, 2026.
Dinner and drinks for two: $74 in San Antonio, $151 in Miami.
- Median city, dinner and drinks
- $124.80
- Median drinks date for two
- $38.40
- Published prices, each sourced
- 160
Two mains and two cocktails with a 20% tip, before sales tax.
Relationships
All relationship guidesHow Many Dates Before a Relationship? What the Numbers Actually Say
Survey data on how long people date before going exclusive, translated into weeks, milestones and a one-card checklist.
What Is a Situationship?
The word is new. The feeling isn't. Here is what researchers know about how situationships work, how long they last, and how people get out of them.