Comment on Should you call your significant other 'partner'?

Should you call your significant other 'partner'?

Way back in 2014 I wrote a piece titled "So long, Partner," exploring why, even in these slightly more egalitarian times, we don't have all that many names for each other in romantic relationships. I know what you're going to say. Sure, there are gender-neutral options like "partner," "significant other," "lover," "paramour" (which has the exciting connotation of "illicit lover" — though it's a quick jump to the band Paramore), "smoochy-pants," and "boo" (is anyone still saying "boo"?). But most of the time, wandering around my part of the world, I hear the same old standard, cisgender terms for being in a socially and institutionally recognized romantic relationship: "husband" or "wife" when married and, prior to being dubbed so by the powers that be, "boyfriend" or "girlfriend." The terminology seemed here to stay, no matter how archaic the roots ("husband" and "wife" go back to the 11th and ninth centuries).

 

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