'Serenity'
[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.
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.
Were I to have found myself in such circumstances, I wouldve suggested "Godless Tramp I Shack Up With" as the official title. Alas, the only person who fit that description was my brother.
Frasier and Lillith said it on Cheers, so I assume nobody really used it. I could be wrong; I was twelve then.