SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Increasingly Significant Issue

[Mark A Mandel]

On Wed, 10 Apr 2002, Dave Wilton wrote:

#> Of Joanne M. Despres
#>
#> It seems to me that "partner" (less formal) and "domestic partner"
#> (more formal) are the terms of choice for gays, lesbians, and
#> bisexuals.
#
#Although in some contexts there is a possibility of confusion with a
#business partner.

I read a novel about a year ago -- can't remember what, maybe my wife
will if anyone cares -- in which just this confusion came up, though in
the other direction. This is set in the American South. A lawyer is
looking to buy a house for his small firm to use as an office. He
mentions "my partner" to the real estate agent and gets what he
interprets as a suppressed odd look, and hastens to clarify: "my law
partner".

-- Mark A. Mandel