Using partner instead of wife

Parents? Are you asking did my parents refer to each other as partners? Or did *they* say that "partner" should be used instead of "husband/wife"? I'm not clear on what you're asking.

When I was young, my parents certainly assumed I'd be in a hetero relationship and would use the appropriate language for such a relationship. The term "partner" was nowhere in sight...but that was in the early 1980's. Things are quite different now, and they've accepted my partner fully and think of (and just as importantly, treat) her as another daughter.

 

I don't like partner really. My parents don't say it and never have. I hear people say it occasionally and it throws me off initially whether they are straight or gay, since some of the people who say it turn out straight. If I'm married in the future I will probably say "my husband."

 

Not in my case. I never heard my parents say 'partner' when referring to a significant other. Before I was out to them they always talked about how someday I'll have a husband. :rolle: And now that I'm out to them it's always feminine terms.

 

it's normal regardless of orientation, but obviously the terms husband/wife are way more common.

 

I have never heard people use that terminology much. The one exception being my high school law teacher who said one of his gay friends got married to his partner a while back and he went to the wedding. Beyond that everyone else I hear uses husband/wife (at least when referring to heterosexual relationships).

This subject is almost a sort of pet peeve of mine though. Of all the words I would hope to never use to describe a romantic relation, it would be "partner". To me "partner" sounds like you are going into business together or something, not anything to do with love. Significant Other, Lover, Paramour, whatever else people can/want to use, but partner just sounds so wrong to me.

 

My parents used partner to describe our neighbours, who were lesbians. I'd like to say it was because that was before gay marriage was legal, but... :/

 

Well, I sometimes use partner and boyfriend interchangeably but that's because my partner (see) and I aren't married, we're about to live together. Partner I kinda see as a weird in-between from boyfriend/girlfriend to husband/wife. It denotes a more permanent partnership than boyfriend/girlfriend but it doesn't come with the same legal benefits that husband/wife does.

 

My parents never used partner. My girlfriend is my girlfriend and if we were married she'd be my wife. My parents call us girlfriends. One thing I hate is the straight appropriation of "girlfriend" where a woman refers to her platonic friend with that term.

 

Oh yes, I hate that too. >.< It confuses me.

 

Never heard it from mine(though that's another story).

Couldn't agree more. I get sort of a twitch when I hear the term used to describe that kind of relationship; it's just...no. People are free to use whatever though.

 

Nope. And when I get married, I'll use "husband" because to me, partner sounds more like I'm a member of a business venture. "Husband" carries quite a bit more meaning, IMO.

 

Being in a relationship with a genderqueer person, I use the term "partner" when I talk about them.

 

I always use the term partner, probably always will.

 

I assume that people who use partner to refer to their significant other use it to indicate that they are living together in a romantic relationship, whilst not being married yet.

 

Not necessarily, I would say it is often used in a long term relationship.

 

Most straight people tend to avoid using the term "partner" because, partner has become synonymous with not being straight. My family has always used the terms husband or wife. I can't see myself using either husband/wife or partner. Spouse, love/lover, and significant other (SO), is fine by me.

 

It's not like you have to always use the same word, use whichever fits the sentence the best! Then again, I'm avid for alliteration (an aficionado!), even in everyday exchange, so I use whichever words flow with the rest of the sentence.

 

Guess I'm the oddball in that all my relations seem to use "partner" over "husband" or "wife" (and obviously the majority of them are straight).

Naturally, I much prefer it.

 

I think it is one of those things which is very personal and individualized.. Some people are going to like using it and others aren't going to like it.. If I get married, I will use husband or wife, but if I am I am unmarried and with someone, for me it will be partner. Boyfriend or girlfriend just seems too young for me now.