<human>: My girlfriend of six years [21F] and I [22M] just got in a discussion about what qualifies as a date. 

She says a date only can happen when I initiate the outing by asking her out specifically on a date ("Hey let's go on a date tomorrow.) or if I specifically label the outing a date ("Hungry? Let's eat and make it a date."). 

While I say that anytime I pay for the whole meal or outing, makes it a date, whether or not I--or anyone for that matter--qualifies it as a date. Two people going somewhere together, who love each other romantically and then one person pays for everything, automatically makes it a date, with or without the label. 

Eventually, we asked her roommate and roommate's SO and they ended up agreeing with her, but I'm still feeling a bit shafted unfairly so mostly, I'm posting because I want to get other views of what defines "a date."

For some background, the reason this came up was because I felt frustrated at the fact that I would pay for meals on all occasions when we would go out yet she would still be wanting "a date" by her definition, so I felt unappreciated and confused as to what all these other times were. Apparently, they just didn't count as dates...

Give me the gist of the text in a nutshell
<bot>: SO says dates are specifically labeled - I say dates are when I pay for everything; what do You say qualifies or defines a date?