Willow ,'Lessons'
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
When my mother was not yet married to her now-husband, I was stumped as what to call him. He was in his 60s and rather portly and serious-looking - not a boyfriend
When Lewis and I lived together, before we were married, his mother used to refer to me as his "special friend."
Which caused us no end of amusement.
After our first 10 years together, our parents started lobbying for better titles for us. Once when my FiL asked me "What should I introduce you as? This is Jason's..." I said "Reason for living." He used that for quite a while.
Do Americans not use 'partner' very widely (for straight relationships), then? I hear it as much for long-term straight relationships as for gay ones. It's handy to be able to say 'my partner' and not necessarily have to come out in the process.
It's an especially useful term among people who would sound silly announcing that they had a 'girlfriend'. Such as my 53-year-old father. (He tried 'lady friend' out once, but it made us all fall about laughing, so he stopped.)
Also "hey, girlfriend!" seems to have met the same fate as "posse"
Passe?
Anybody remember the brief life of POSSLQ - "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quaters"? It might have caught on if it had been pronounceable. And not stupid.
Do Americans not use 'partner' very widely (for straight relationships), then?
Hmmm. When a straight person says "partner," I'm never sure if they're talking about a romantic partner or a business partner.
In British Columbia a person who has lived and cohabited with another person, for a period of at least 2 years is considered a common law spouse acording to the "Estate Administration Act"
This is surprisingly common amongst my relatives.
I remember POSSLQ in the sense of "I heard it mocked", but not in the sense of "I actually heard anyone anywhere ever use it with a straight face". (The straightness of it being part of the problem, of course).
Anybody remember the brief life of POSSLQ - "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quaters"? It might have caught on if it had been pronounceable. And not stupid.
I remember reading a poem (or song lyrics) about a POSSLQ in Time or Newsweek back in the late '70s. Only time I've heard that term.
And even that term sucks, as I've have lots of female housemates who I was not dating.
I believe the term was from a time when persons of opposite sex probably wouldn't have been living together if they weren't *living together*. Unless they were hippies or something. Late 70's, I think.
I moved into a co-ed dorm my sophomore year and my mom nearly had a coronary.