Hmmm. Perhaps it means different things to different people.
When I got engaged we went to the Register Office and gave notice of marriage - that's what it meant to us.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Mon 10 May 2010, 8:48, 3 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Yeah, I reckon it's like a provisional licence
You know you can drive around on it for ages without sitting your test, but there's not really much point to that.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Mon 10 May 2010, 8:50, Reply)

I know people who were engaged for ten years
They wanted to show they were more than just 'going out' but they didn't feel the hurry to go down the aisle.
It does indeed mean different things to different people.
( Roota zweeeeeoooooowm, Mon 10 May 2010, 8:52, Reply)

I don't know what age you got engaged
But we decided to get engaged before we went to university, and get married once we had our degrees. It gave us time to learn how to live independently etc before moving in with each other for life, straight off.
(Mrs Ballunatic counting calories, not votes., Mon 10 May 2010, 21:21, Reply)