>

I’m planning on proposing this year, so calling her my girlfriend sounds less serious. Plus normalizing the word “partner” helps create a more neutral tone when discussing partners for gay/bi/etc. folks in relationships 
It’s literally just a word
You’re not running a business with this person

I propose we start referring to single people as "sole proprietorships". >

I use partner instead of girlfriend. Girlfriend feels so high-school and immature >

Womanacquaintance >

Fem-comrade >

Femrade! >

YES >

FemRad! >

femorroid )))) >

Well, If only same-sex relationship ppl use the term. Ppl will imidiately know they are in a same sex relationship. >

This is what I was going to say! It’s about normalizing the language to protect the people who don’t want to share their sexuality! >

And not making it a big deal what your sexuality is! >


Exception being if it’s a same-sex relationship and the person speaking doesn’t want to disclose that part of their life.

But then if it's only gay people using the label partner,  gay people would be indirectly disclosing that aspect of their life. This don't make sense because we would need a new word
I also like the word partner because boyfriend/ girlfriend sounds like in your school >

I use partner because it's nobody's business but mine if I'm gay or straight, married or dating. >

I know everything I need to know about you >

Dillman? >

r/UnexpectedB99 >

My boyfriend and I have lived together for about 5 years.  We are older and chose not to get married because it's just not important for us.  I am never quite sure how to refer to him.  Fiance sometimes.  Other times I call him my significant other or SO.  Sometimes I say husband just because it's easier in some situations. Partner is also appropriate. But I feel we are past the boyfriend and girlfriend stage. >

Question so like you ever think of getting married solely for finances >

I don't think it would really matter that much.  I am still working but he's retired. If we were younger and planned on having children I would definitely get married.  But I am well past that now and never wanted to have a child anyway. LOL. He has 2 grown up kids. Plus he gets some benefits that I don't he'd qualify for if he were married to me while I am still employed. >

Ah well fair enough, was only asking as for some people I know they did just because it benefited them in one way or another most because of job benefits the marriage part wasn’t all that important to them though >

Howdy partner! >


Exception being if it’s a same-sex relationship and the person speaking doesn’t want to disclose that part of their life.

That's exactly why people do it, though: to normalize it so that same-sex couples can actually benefit from it. If the only people using "partner" are same-sex couples, then it defeats the purpose. >

What if I don’t want people to know I’m straight? >

I use partner instead of girlfriend. Girlfriend feels so high-school and immature, and we are both in our mid 30s. I don't actually love the word partner either, but it feels better to use than girlfriend for me. >

Came here to say this. We aren’t engaged but we’ve been together a long time and passed the boyfriend/girlfriend a long time ago. I use the term partner more than anything else. >

If the only people who can say it, according to you, are people in same sex marriages trying to hide the fact their partner is the same sex... then everyone would know right away and that literally defeats the purpose >

Yep, this 100%. >

Sometimes I refer to my wife as my ex-girlfriend. She doesn't appreciate it very much.... >

Dating progression...
Hookup: no commitment
GF/BF:  monogamous commitment
Partner: financial commitment (shared bills, etc)
Spouse: legal commitment >

Nice, I would like to add some upgradations:
Hookup: Nothing just fun, no commitment
Gf/Bf: Initial dating phase, commitment
Partner: Serious, increased commitment
Significant Other: Almost similar to marriage except can be used before/after marriage
Fiance: Just before marriage 
Spouse: Legal commitment >

Comrade: transcendence from spouse; sexy revolutionaries >

My wife and I were together 8 years before we got married - we had a whole life build together and bf/gf seems very date-y, past a certain point you are essentially married but without having had the wedding and ‘partner’ usually indicates the seriousness of the relationship. You are a partnership. 
Plus it helps to de-stigmatize for the LGBTQ+ community >

How does it destigmatize LGBTQ+? >

By ‘partner’ being reserved only for the LGBTQ+ community it ‘outs’ them in any situation they mention their partner. Maybe they want to share about their life but for whatever reason they want to keep to themselves their sexuality, they can’t. 
If everyone uses ‘partner’ the language is normalized people don’t think twice about it. 
E.g i worked with a gay guy who who was fairly private about his home life until he felt very comfortable but would occasionally say ‘I went to X place at the weekend with my partner’ to which I didn’t think any more about - I found out he was gay a few months later when he was more comfortable at work >

I get were you are coming from......but....
I am almost 50. I  cannot get married to him yet. Boyfriend/girlfriend sounds stupid at my age. And he is my partner.  We share as much as we can,  and are there for each others >

There was once I time I used the government term posselque for my SO.  POOSSLQ stood for Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters. >

I'm 39 and my SO is 49. Boyfriend and girlfriend just doesn't sound right at our age. >

In the same boat.   Sometimes I just say “My Sweetie”. >

I use "our lass" or "my partner". Depends who I'm talking too at the time. >

It's not something that really bothers me, but I think it's a little silly to refer to grown adults as boys and girls. Especially at 40 or older. I guess partner works better than womanfriend. >

In the nordics, we have the word "kæreste" that is just "my partner." 
It's a genderless word. And even people who are straight and/or bisexual have the right to not want to disclose their sexuality to others. >

To clarify to people that didn't know: we don't even have words for boyfriend or girlfriend. Only "kæreste" exist. There's no word for a gendered partner >

I identify as non-binary and absolutely refuse to be called girlfriend because it sounds so immature and I do not identify as female. My SO identifies as male but prefers me to call him SO or partner because boyfriend sounds silly for someone in his 40's. >

At 35+, "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" seemed really teenagery. "Partner" wasn't right because we weren't sharing finances or a household. 
I landed on "the guy I'm dating." >

“My emergency contact” >

Idk I use partner but I live with my him, partner seems as though you’re more stable and serious in relationship compared to boyfriend/girlfriend 🤷‍♀️ >

Most people I know who do this, do it as a way to make clear that they are "life partners" but are not married. It's almost always people who have been previously married and divorced and refuse to get married again. >

r/notunpopularjustdumb >

I use partner because even though we are not married, we have been together too long to refer to each other as girlfriend/boyfriend >

I absolutely hate the term "hubby" for husband. >

If everyone stops using “partner” except people not wanting to disclose their same-sex relationship, they’ll be disclosing it when they use the word. 
It’s not that your opinion is unpopular, it’s that your exception kinda fails logically. >

My boyfriend told me this one time... that he knows when people are gay because they will call their SO their partner. After that, i started referring to him as my partner 🤣 >

But also good on them for making it harder for homophobes to sniff out those in a same-sex relationship.
It's none of your business, and it does not need to matter to you <3 >

Depending on the language „girlfriend“ means a normal friend that is a women/girl. Like a gender specified term for a friend. 
It’s not exclusive for a romantic relationship only.
And if I’m talking about my SO I wanna make it clear they’re not just a friend, but my partner. So I say partner and not friend. >

yeah, but only women do that. men aren't out here calling our bros "boyfriend." And to be honest, we've always thought it was weird that women do that, we just don't care enough to say anything about it. >

Perhaps some people want to normalize the term partner so that no exception is needed for same sex partners. IE if everyone uses “partner” it’s no longer code for same sex… >

Why can't same sex couples use boyfriend and girlfriend? Or husband or wife? Seems a bit discrimatory that just because they are gay they have to use neutral terms to describe someone. >

OP said the exception to their rule is same sex couples. I am saying if everyone uses partner/bc/gf interchangeably no one has to choose. Sort of like pronouns, we can accept “they” instead of he/she but not “partner” instead of bf/gf?