People are only just discovering Friends coined popular dating term that everyone uses

Friends' Joey Tribbiani certainly had a way with words.

More than 20 years after the sitcom's final episode aired, people around the world still quote the lovable womaniser's famous catchphrase.

All together now: "How you doin'?"

But did you know he was also the creator of a popular dating term?

It all started in the season one episode, 'The One With The Blackout'.

If you don't remember it, we highly recommend going back to rewatch the episode as it's both fantastic and the birthplace of a dating term still widely used today.

In the episode, a power cut leaves Chandler stranded in a bank, Joey learns that Monica used to fancy him, and Ross tries to ask Rachel out on a date.

In one scene, Ross can be seen chatting to Rachel in Monica's apartment.

A dating term was born in season one of Friends (NBC)

Rachel leaves the conversation before Ross goes to get up from sitting on the floor. As he begins to walk away, Joey says: "Never gonna happen... You and Rachel... You waited too long to make your move, and now you’re in the friend zone."

Ross - who was pining after Rachel pretty hard at this point - disagreed with Joey, explaining: "I'm not in the zone."

"Ross, you're mayor of the zone," Joey responds.

That's right, it was Friends that created the 'friend zone'. What a strange world we live in...

And the revelation has left people's mind blown.

After the fact was shared on social media, one user wrote in the comments: "The moment you realise that Joey Tribbiani invented the word 'Friendzone' in 1994."

While another said: "I genuinely didn’t know the show Friends created the term Friend Zone."

A third joked: "Thanks a lot Joey... spoke this craziness into existence."

And a fourth rightly pointed out: "But eventually Ross got with Rachel. So the friend zone is not permanent."

Joey tells Ross he's in the 'friend zone' (NBC)

But that's not the only thing Friends taught us, proving it's not just entertaining, but educational too.

We also learned how to spell 'Phoebe' thanks to the show (P as in Phoebe, H as in Hoebe, O as in Oebe, E as in Ebe, B as in Bebe, and E as in ‘ello there, mate).

And, it explained how to deal with a jellyfish sting, although we won't go into the gross details of that one...

Friends, which famously starred Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer, and Matt LeBlanc, first began in 1994, before its end in 2004.

Even though the show ended more than 20 years ago, it still lives on through its lovable characters, memorable moments and, of course, the 'friend zone'.