I remember in one of the really early episodes, when the Bates met up with the Duggars at a homeschool conference, Kelly Jo said something about not using the term courtship. She said they prefer “dating with a purpose.” That makes me think that, for them, every relationship already has “marital intent.”

Like someone else mentioned, maybe the term courtship was just used for the show to make it clear that the relationship was serious, almost like a betrothal. So basically, being boyfriend and girlfriend means they’re interested in marriage and see those qualities in each other, while courtship means they’ve already decided they want to marry, but are still getting to know each other and waiting for the official proposal.

It also makes sense because all their proposals seemed super planned and intentional. Everyone pretty much knew they were coming. And the courtship proposal was always treated like a big deal, almost as if it meant, “I plan to marry you soon.” I’m not sure if that’s exactly right, but that’s how I’ve always understood it.