SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Increasingly Significant Issue

[Mark A Mandel]

On Thu, 11 Apr 2002, Joanne M. Despres wrote:

#But seriously:  I believe "lover" is still used by GBTs, especially
#those in the above-40 age bracket, though less automatically than
#it used to be.

A male couple that I knew in the 80s used that expression normally. It
somewhat squicked me because it seemed to me to (over)emphasize the
sexual aspect of the relationship, but R., the one I was closer friends
with, challenged me to come up with a satisfactory alternative, and I
don't think I was able to.

-- Mark A. Mandel
   Linguist at Large