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submitted 11 months ago by catsup@lemmy.one to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

Since a lot of women have started to call their female friends "girlfriends", I have to wonder how women with actual girlfriends have been dealing with this lol

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[-] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 86 points 11 months ago

I'm neither a lesbian nor a woman but the word "partner" is pretty universally understood.

[-] theKalash@feddit.ch 48 points 11 months ago

Unless they work as a policewoman.

[-] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 8 points 11 months ago

They could also be in business together. Or cowboys.

[-] Send_me_nude_girls@feddit.de 4 points 11 months ago

Then add "...at work" in the same breath. Guys, we don't need to reinvent language.

[-] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 months ago

How do you differentiate cowboys?

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[-] squiblet@kbin.social 12 points 11 months ago

I use that to refer to business partners and people have been confused by it.

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[-] catsup@lemmy.one 6 points 11 months ago

Yeah I thought about that one too, but it feels too broad of a term. Partner could be used to refer to a work colleague. And I'd feel really tempted to add "in crime" at the end lol

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[-] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 79 points 11 months ago

"This is Jane, we're fucking."

[-] snooggums@kbin.social 34 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Right now?

I clearly don't know how being a lesbian works.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 31 points 11 months ago
[-] tegs_terry@feddit.uk 4 points 11 months ago
[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

Just don't ask where the meat comes from.

You see any cows around here?

Spanish...

Rat burger? This is a rat burger?

Pretty good!

[-] Evil_Shrubbery@lemm.ee 15 points 11 months ago

Someone once introduced their gf literally saying "We are in a relationship" - it's sounds awkward/clunky but I didn't even notice that, it didn't make me think for a moment, its precise, short, and above all clear. I appreciate direct communication way more than 'what sounds nice'.

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[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 39 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

“This is my wife” works real well

For my girlfriend, I mostly just correct people if they’re mistaken. “Oh we’re more than just friends” type statements.

Also fuck is the platonic use of girlfriend back? Dammit

[-] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 8 points 11 months ago

Yeah, hate to break it to you, but it isn't even just women/girls using it for platonic friends. Men/boys are too.

Not too surprisingly, that hasn't happened with boyfriend that I've run across. Which is kinda fucked up when you consider what the difference in usage represents.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago

My grandma talks like that but in my area in my generation it’s generally understood that [gender]friend is romantic and friend isn’t. If gender is relevant it’s “the [genders]”

That terminology is incredibly frustrating as a lesbian. Especially since it’s regularly used alongside calling my wife my friend despite me repeatedly referring to her as my wife

[-] flicker@kbin.social 6 points 11 months ago

I understand why this is frustrating and am not trying to take that from you, but thought you'd enjoy knowing that the last old lady who I confronted about calling my girlfriend as my girlfriend (in the platonic sense) was genuinely confused about my irritation, since "isn't that the best part of having a girlfriend instead of a boyfriend? That they're also your best friend? I always thought you two really got that part right."

It's some arethestraightsokay stuff (and happened in like 2004) but I thought it might give you a smile.

[-] SharkAttak@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago

I heard that violently frenching in front of them would clear any misunderstanding, nuance or misinterpretation.

"Nope, Mildred, those ain't gals pals, for sure"

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Unfortunately it will just get us sexually harassed or disowned depending on the audience

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[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 26 points 11 months ago

“This person is my lover Karen”

Just introduce them as your partner. Lesbians are so habitually entrenched in hiding their sexuality.

I have so many pairs of “friends” come in appliance shopping. Gay men come in, it’s “This is my husband Mike”. Gay women come in and it’s like “This is my friend Paula. She helps me pick out appliances and definitely doesn’t live with me”.

I don’t pry, because I’m just selling appliances. But it’s pretty obvious.

[-] Lennnny@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

Robert Dyas?

[-] flicker@kbin.social 23 points 11 months ago

"Started?" Here in Tennessee we never stopped calling each other girlfriend.

But as others said, "Partner." I use it to talk about my boyfriend (since I'm a well-known demi person locally and the sex of whoever I'm with can be a massive question mark.)

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[-] mom@nom.mom 20 points 11 months ago

Since a lot of women have started to call their female friends "girlfriends"

This isn't really a new thing, though... Is it? Or did I miss the era where we didn't use "girlfriend" - at least sometimes - when talking about a female friend?

[-] smort@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

Yeah my 70 yo aunt has had platonic “girlfriends” for at least 30 years

[-] catsup@lemmy.one 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Oh damn, I thought it was a more recent thing

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 4 points 11 months ago

I can tell you’re young because 30 years doesn’t seem recent to you.

When I hear of a 70-year-old woman who’s been doing something for the last 30 years, I read that as a recent cultural change happened.

[-] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 19 points 11 months ago

Since a lot of women have started to call their female friends “girlfriends

That was the original meaning of the word before it ever had romantic connotations.

From Wikipedia...

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest meaning of the word "girlfriend", from 1859 on, was to designate "a female friend; esp. a woman's close female friend". In the late 1800s, it took on the meaning of "A female with whom a person has a romantic or sexual relationship".

[-] fhek@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 11 months ago

The new way of referring to your SO is “partner”.

So I guess like that?

[-] BellaDonna@mujico.org 3 points 11 months ago

This, I still use girlfriend interchangeably for both and it absolutely creates confusion.

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[-] Hello_there@kbin.social 12 points 11 months ago

Lots of handholding and kissing when introducing them?

[-] ani@endlesstalk.org 11 points 11 months ago

But isn't that something girls do as... just gals being pals?

[-] 0x4E4F@infosec.pub 6 points 11 months ago

In the mouth? Probably not 🤔.

[-] ani@endlesstalk.org 12 points 11 months ago

Are you sure that isn't just girls doing normal girl things?

[-] NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social 8 points 11 months ago

Especially late at night during the sexy pillow fights right?

[-] 0x4E4F@infosec.pub 3 points 11 months ago

IDK, or at least I don't think so 😂.

[-] awnery@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

partner is a brilliant word about to made meaningless, apparently, so, love you all, friends, buddies, girlies, girlfriends, boyfriends, beards, compatriots and fellow travelers, fuck i''m old I forgot a few dozen thousand.

share love

[-] RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

I'm not a lesbian, but I'd probably just say girlfriend and expect people to be able to understand context.

[-] weew@lemmy.ca 4 points 11 months ago

I don't know if it's just a local slang, but most straight girls I know will refer to their close female friends as girlfriends.

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[-] Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 11 months ago
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this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
67 points (85.3% liked)

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