I use parner for non-gender reasons:
- You might not know their status (married? Dating?) and the phrase “significant other” is clunky
- for grown adults, terms like boyfriend/girlfriend can come off as a little dismissive or juvenile
- You might not know their status (married? Dating?) and the phrase “significant other” is clunky
- for grown adults, terms like boyfriend/girlfriend can come off as a little dismissive or juvenile
To me it's simple
1. Married -> Husband/Wife
2. Dating -> Girlfriend/Boyfriend
3. Middle Ground -> Fiance/fiancee
I've yet to see a case this doesn't cover so "partner" seems like a solution looking for a problem.
There are plenty of couples who may as well be married, but choose not to participate in that social construct.
Your comment about correctness is a bit ironic in context however.
That’s like thinking “I can just replace null with 0 or empty string. Means the same thing”