system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
Honestly I think the friendzone has been co-opted by the incel crowd.

When I was a teenager I always used it to mean you met a girl you liked, became friends with her, and by the time you've gotten to know her you're too good of friends to try to proposition her.

It had nothing to do with her not wanting to be more than friends with you/it being one-sided! It was just about not knowing how to attempt that transition. My highschool memories are filled with female friends I liked who I now know would have dated me if I'd tried.

Knowing one wasn't interested just makes it easy, no need to stress about it!
gpt
I would agree.  The problem with "the friendzone" isn't being in it, the problem is being an entitled asshat and thinking you deserve sex because you were nice.  

My method of asking women out in high school was to get to know them for an extended period,  then go for it.  You can guess how well that worked out for me.  But I never considered it a thing to get angry about, just a fleeting disappointment in the moment.  And by the time I had asked them out, I already did genuinely like them as a friend, so after a day or two of awkwardness, I was back to being excited to be friends with someone I thought was cool.  

That being said, even that rather benign definition still has a lot to do with the person being "friendzoned" needing to take stock of themselves.  In my case, it was realizing two things.  First, that the vibe I was putting off was "let's be friends", so I shouldn't be shocked when that's what they wanted.  My soul-searching led me to realize that if I wanted to get to know someone before I "officially" asked them out, I should just say that rather than try and be subtle about it.  Second, I also learned that getting to know a person is - big shocker to my dumb ass - actually what going on dates is for.  When I was in high school, I always equated "going on dates" with "dating".