Anyone else hate this new fad of calling a boyfriend/girlfriend a partner?

Question

I hate the word..it's either boyfriend/girlfriend or fiance/fiancee
or husband/wife.
That's how it used to be and it worked well.Partner was used for business only.
I will never refer to anyone as someone's partner and I always correct people when they say it.
It's mostly co-habiting chavs that use it I find.

Bex..no the Porsche is fine ..I just enjoy winding people up..it worked didn't it???

Answer 1

Like you I just hate that word, I've been married 23 years and last week someone asked me how my partner was, I glared and said I have no partner but I do have an husband, our marriage certificate states we are husband and wife and not partners, I find it offencive when someone calls my hubby my partner, I can't do with these new fangled expressions for couples these days, its like Ms, how can anyone be a Ms, your either a Miss or a Mrs, bring back the old way of saying things before we lose our identities altogether I say.

Answer 2

I actually hate all the terms for the other half (well the sensible ones anyway!!) Boyfriend/Girlfriend makes you sound about 15, wife sounds dowdy and old, and when people say partner I always wonder if they're gay, and if not I just think it sounds very clinical, like you share the bills but dont actually like each other

I think you're wrong to "correct" people who say partner though - it's been in use for years, usually for people who live together as husband and wife but choose not to marry. I don't like the word, but I cant see any alternative. How can a 40 year old couple who've been together and lived together for say 10 years call each other boyfriend and girlfriend??

Answer 3

Gosh you are so helpful correcting people when they use the wrong term (according to you) to describe their "whatever they choose to call it". In your day it was likely that people married younger and most people stayed together. Now more people are single older - does a 50 year old woman for example want to describe someone she is seeing as her boyfriend - I don't think so. So what do you suggest given that the other two options you suggested are equaly inappropriate. Also, the word Partner has never been exclusively used for business: partners in crime, take your partners for the dance etc etc So climb down from the lofty position you are currently occupying and allow people to chose how to introduce their own partner. And do you spend a lot of time with co-habiting chavs?

Answer 4

I've been married 36 years and I consider my husband a 'partner' in life. If we had just lived together I'd look pretty silly refering to him as my boyfriend! He's more than a friend and a long time away from being a boy!
Fiance refers to someone you intend to marry (not every couples choice)
As I have friends and family with long term relationships but not marriage (some gay/lesbian) what else do you suggest I use???? Co-Habitee perhaps! The correct term would be Common law wife or husband in a mixed sex relationship but that to me sounds like Critisism!

Answer 5

It's annoying the heck out of me! I keep referring to my boyfriend as my partner out of habit now. But you have to concede, it is quiet useful when you're unsure. I work with children and young people, and you never know if the man that comes to pick the kid up is mum's boyfriend, husband, sister's half brother, pimp or taxi driver. And my gay friends seem to prefer 'partner' to 'boyfriend' or 'girl friend'.

Answer 6

Excuse me, I am no chav, I have a law degree,trained to be a solicitor, am highly educated and work for the government. My partner and I call each other PARTNERS as we find that the term girlfriend and boyfriend are childish and a term used between teenagers.

Answer 7

i am not a fan of the use of "partner either" but as a gay woman sometimes it's easier to say partner than girlfriend (depending on the situation).

trying to introduce my girlfriend to my older family members using "girlfriend" does not work. they assume she is just a friend of mine (that's how they used to use the word).

i wish it was that easy....cause partner is far too pc

Answer 8

I don't like the term "boyfriend" because it makes me feel like a pedophile or a middleschooler. I don't like the term "fiance" (even when engaged) because so many fools try to "show off" their status. I DID view my partner as such... and we *were* in business together at one point. And, yes, we WERE living together. Do you have a problem with that?

Answer 9

Hating a fad is rather like trying to chase the rain away by waving one's arms.

Answer 10

i replaced into married for 7 years the first time, 23 this time. I did by coincidence call him by ability of my ex husbands call acouple of circumstances yet out of anger thank god. that would not were so tremendous if it replaced into an intimate second.