why does everyone now say "partner" ???

[Stephenite]

I have a niece called Honey. I'll pass it on.

Edit: Of course I meant "siblings offspring" or some such toss, and not "niece".

 

[rikki]

I work with an Artistic Director who calls everyone "Honey" including his wife.
I don't answer to Honey.
Honey is the name of one of our dogs. (Honey come here! Good girl Honey)

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Partner is a stupid word used by the same kind of people who are too scared of causing offence to offer any opinion and whose only comment is "kewl".

Someone needs their blood pressure checking. This the cafe, not P&L...

 

[Fnaar]

A friend of mine refers to his wife as "the current Mrs H"

 

[661-Pete]

What's wrong with 'cohabitee'?

(*ducks*)

TBH I'd probably use that word of a couple of whom I disapproved....

Regarding the word 'actress', well I think it used to be 'actress' for a good reason. Acting is very gender-specific - after all in the post-Shakespeare era you can't have an actress playing Hamlet any more than you can have an actor playing Ophelia (though no doubt it's been tried). So 'actress' helps to qualify the occupation, in a way that 'doctoress' or 'accountantess' wouldn't. But the good old Grauniad, discovering that usage of the word 'actress' had been debased by association with the string of 'as the actress said to the bishop' jokes, decided to go all PC-ey and use the word 'actor' across the board. Other PC-adherents swiftly followed. Ah well...

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I genuinely think you're mistaken, in that case.

I don't think it's anything to do with same-sex relationships to start with, and I think language always follows trends - otherwise you'd have prefaced your post with 'Forsooth!' or something.

What does it matter? People use a word they feel is appropriate. Boy- and Girl- friend can seem a bit odd when you're knocking on a bit, and when you're committed long term, but not married, you maybe want to acknowledge the commitment with a word that suits. Also, it's a handy single word for both sexes. And covers married and unmarried people - fair simpler to say 'partners welcome' on an invite, than "boy or girlfriends, husbands or wives welcome".

There's also a nice statement in the meaning of partner - equality, cooperation etc.

Hardly worth getting worked up about.

On the actor/actress front, some women prefer not to have their profession mark them out as one sex or the other - doctors are doctors, male or female, as are nurses, barristers etc. There's no need to differentiate. Some women don't mind, some do - it's just polite to take that into account.

Bang on. Why other people are bothered by what I refer to Ms RT as I don't know. I've never liked the word "wife" for some reason, but do I start threads asking why oh why oh why everyone uses it? No.

 

[2Loose]

I am not married, far too old to be a boy and my 'girlfriend' doesn't like to be referred to as a child either.

Partner works, 'nuff said.

 

[oliglynn]

A guy at my work, who is rather self conscious, & around 40ish always kept referring to his girlfriend as his "partner"

He soon stopped when some new guy told him he thought he was gay!! It was really funny how offended he got! He now calls her his wife, despite still not being married!

 

[Chilternrides]

A chap I know refers to his wife as "Senior Management", and she in turn refers to him as "That bloody lump at home."

Seems to work very well for them after nearly forty years...

 

[Stephenite]

Call me old-fashioned but, i think 'partner' is not in the least bit romantic.

I work with an Artistic Director who calls everyone "Honey" including his wife.
I don't answer to Honey.
Honey is the name of one of our dogs. (Honey come here! Good girl Honey)

I tried to dissuade my sibling from naming the newborn 'Honey' for reasons like this and others.

My gf can be a cohabitee if i can be the cohabiter.

 

[jig-sore]

I've never liked the word "wife" for some reason, but do I start threads asking why oh why oh why everyone uses it? No.

(forsooth) calm down, calm down... its just a topic not a rant. just something to discuss... talk about... nicely

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Call me old-fashioned but, i think 'partner' is not in the least bit romantic.

Which in many cases may be an excellent reason for using it. Romance isn't necessarily what keeps relationships together!

 

[Davidc]

What a load of fuss!

Partner is consise, accurate, and much more linguistically elegant than many of the alternatives, and the meaning of the term, in context, is perfectly clear. I don't follow why it is any more bland than the alternatives.

I don't care where it originated, although I'm sure I first heard it used in a heterosexual context I'm prepared to accept that it may have started in a homosexual one. So what?

I'll go on referring to my spouse as my wife, and go on being quite happy for other people to refer to their partners if they wish.

 

[theclaud]

after all in the post-Shakespeare era you can't have an actress playing Hamlet any more than you can have an actor playing Ophelia

Oh yes you can. Kathryn Hunter has played Lear (and the Fool). No one bats an eyelid at this stuff- it doesnt even indicate a particularly radical approach. People who do the same job should have the same job title - simples.

 

[Fab Foodie]

[QUOTE 1341845"]
I nearly trained to be a midwife.
[/quote]
Blimey, a close-call for hundreds of women in the Birmingham area then ....