I remember first hearing "partner" when I was in high school and I LOVED IT. It's such a nice term - it says you're a team. What's not to like?
A Singaporean coworker once described her relationship status as "oh, I'm attached" and I loved that, too.
In reverse, my colleague called her husband "adventurous", I thought that sounded really positive - it means he has affairs
And hopefully the teacher catches that and understands it means their child will likely need more support because these parents likely turn that same face on their kids over the stupidest shit that shouldn't bug anyone.
I'm in a hetero relationship and I use it. To me it just seems like a much more descriptive term, since they're literally your partner in life's highs and lows.
Not a native speaker here. I infer from your statement that partner is not the default term in english, then ? Or are you colloquialy supposed to specify the gender ?
In general, the norm is boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, etc. I never heard partner until after college and started using it pretty regularly (I mean, it just sounds so much more eloquent. Also anyone can be partners, married or just dating), but I think it’s an easy way for LGBT+ folk to not ‘out’ themselves when talking to inconsequential people.
but I think it’s an easy way for LGBT+ folk to not ‘out’ themselves when talking to inconsequential people.
This is why conservatives hate the more general use of "partner." It became a way to out gay people because it became a common coded term to not out themselves.
Using the term to not out yourself was a way to out yourself that is being unwound by common usage of "partner" by everyone.
We see conservatives complain about teachers' sexuality being "shoved down their throat".
But this seems like a way to avoid that. Maybe we should encourage it for all teachers gay or straight, married or in non-married relationship. Then the conservative complaint could be taken at face value and the woman teacher married to a man could avoid "shoving their sexuality down your throat" even when that sexuality is within a heterosexual marriage.
As a heterosexual married man, if I suspected I was dealing with a homophobe, I might refer to my wife as my partner, just to mess with them. And because the identity of my partner isn't any of their business
but how does anyone know I own them as property? /s
It’s interesting that most people make the assumption that if you describe your significant other as “partner” it is likely a same sex couple. That’s my usual first take as well, but I actually like the term to describe a significant other better than say, boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, ya di ya di.
Yup, I've been in my (heterosexual but not married) relationship for long enough that the word "girlfriend" doesn't really feel like a good descriptor anymore.
And "significant other" is such a mouthful. Partner makes sense and is easier to say.
That is due to frequency of use in past decades carrying over as a habit. All the gay people I've known in the US used partner in the 90s through whenever we finally legalized marriage (2015?) because they weren't legal.
Those same people tend to still use partner, because old habits are hard to break.
O nooooo a word that is completely fucking accurate but does not directly reaffirm my cis het self!! The horror.
I like the term partner because girlfriend sounds like Im in high school. But throw in the added benefit of not heteronormalizing basic conversation AND making intolerant people uncomfortable.... good stuff.
I always liked "cosmic orphan buddy" instead of "girlfriend" even though I was never really sure what it means. I solved the whole problem by becoming permanently single.
Is this homophobia or is there some other reason to not like the term partner?
Pretty sure it's homophobia. Or just general conformist bigotry because it's not like heterosexual couples couldn't use the word too if they wanted.
Well, they do.
I realised it could also be a sex before marriage thing
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