SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Increasingly Significant Issue

[Jewls2u]

I live on an island in the Pacific NW where there is a fairly large
population of people living in non-traditional families. The most common
term for a mate here is partner. I have heard it from both homosexual and
heterosexual people. It's not uncommon to here a married person refer to
their spouse as their partner.

Julienne

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
Of Dave Wilton
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 3:53 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Increasingly Significant Issue


> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society
> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
> Of Joanne M. Despres
> Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 4:28 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Increasingly Significant Issue
>
>
> It seems to me that "partner" (less formal) and "domestic partner"
> (more formal) are the terms of choice for gays, lesbians, and
> bisexuals.  I'm not usually the first to catch on to newer trends,
> though -- maybe others have a different impression.  To my ears,
> those terms sound more to the point and less euphemistically
> vague than "companion" and less klutzily p.c. than "significant
> other."

Although in some contexts there is a possibility of confusion with a
business partner.

I know an unmarried, heterosexual couple who simply refer to each other as
"my husband" and "my wife." They figure that's their social situation and
their legal status is no one's business but their own.