Why do people call their significant others 'partners'

Kent Wang · Aug 15, 2009

I used to think it was only homosexuals that referred to their significant others as partners, because it's gender-neutral, but I have heard several heterosexual couples use the term as well when they could have just as well used girlfriend, wife, or spouse. Spouse is gender-neutral but it appears there isn't a similar term for boyfriend/girlfriend.

Partner is rather confusing as I often think of business partner, tennis partner, croquet partner, etc.

itsstillmatt · Aug 15, 2009

It is very politically correct.

JonHecht · Aug 15, 2009

Because they are hyper-PC and just plain silly. They don't want to offend anyone by saying girlfriend or boyfriend.

MetroStyles · Aug 15, 2009

I imagine it is squeaky-clean couples in their late 20s and early 30s who are passionate about politics that use this.

Flambeur · Aug 15, 2009

I would never call my g/f a partner, but it sounds rather stupid to say boyfriend/girlfriend when you're out of school and in a serious relationship.

Maybe it's just me.

binge · Aug 15, 2009

The only person who uses this term in a heterosexual relationship that makes sense to me is my 87 year old grandmother when referring to her 95 year old "partner". They have been lifelong friends and after becoming widow and widower, their friendship developed into love. They choose not to marry as they figure it would just make their already long-established inheritences, wills, etc. more complicated.

I sometimes say, "my grandmother's boyfriend" to my friends because it's kind of cheeky and cute among close friends and family. But she refers to him as her "partner" and I can't think of a more appropriate term.

username79 · Aug 15, 2009

They are being annoyingly PC. Often after hearing this it is best to say something offensive to make them uncomfortable.

grundletaint · Aug 15, 2009

my standard response is "oh you mean like batman and robin?"

cancel.sing · Aug 15, 2009

Personally, I think it sounds rather ridiculous to call someone your girlfriend if you've been dating for, like, 10 years.

amnesiac · Aug 15, 2009

I remember my very pc feminist philosophy professor once saying, "The father of my children, my partner."

JonHecht · Aug 15, 2009

Originally Posted by cancel.sing

Personally, I think it sounds rather ridiculous to call someone your girlfriend if you've been dating for, like, 10 years.

Personally, I think it sounds rather ridiculous to say that you are dating someone with whom you have been for 10 years.

MrG · Aug 15, 2009

I think the idea is that it rejects traditional gender roles. I.e. "wife" and "husband" are part of some outdated paradigm that artificially and incorrectly defines the people to whom the terms are applied.

Stupid, I think, but that is the sense I get from those who use the term.

Big Pun · Aug 15, 2009

T.I. must be my significant other.

RyJ Maduro · Aug 15, 2009

Vulgar euphamism.

Originally Posted by JonHecht

Personally, I think it sounds rather ridiculous to say that you are dating someone with whom you have been for 10 years.

+1.

Marry or seperate, already.

Kent Wang · Aug 15, 2009

Originally Posted by cancel.sing

Personally, I think it sounds rather ridiculous to call someone your girlfriend if you've been dating for, like, 10 years.
That is a good point and I think is a deficiency in the English language. In Chinese the term is simply male-friend or female-friend, not boy or girl. Then there's the added confusion of women often referring to their female friends as girlfriends.

Why do people call their significant others 'partners'

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