Today’s column

March 21st, 2010

… is online here.

Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (5)

5 Responses to “Today’s column”

  1. Jerry on March 21, 2010 11:51 am

    I too loved LR’s neologism “two-legged pet”. And “Romeo” isn’t bad either, since it’s already in occasional (mostly in print) use along with “Lothario” and “Casanova”.

    But if I learned one thing in linguistics, it’s that descriptivism almost always beats prescriptivism. So what word are people using right now? Here on the west coast we use “boyfriend”. Occasionally one hears “partner”, but then in the case of apparently hetero couples, one finds oneself looking for signs of transvestism. Or wondering if they’re lawyers.

    In very informal situations I have been known to introduce my girlfriend as “my sweetie”, but I doubt that’s going to catch on.

  2. Carolyn on March 21, 2010 1:04 pm

    “My young man” is good for family, but a little arch–he’s not so young as he was when we met, thirty years ago. I may think of B as “my sweetie”, but seldom say it. For most audiences, I toward “partner” (or “other half”); I can always introduce the ‘he’ angle by name or pronoun.

  3. Amy R. on March 21, 2010 8:44 pm

    Thank you for bringing up POSSLQs. Eve Bunting wrote a young adult novel in the 80s called “Will You Be My POSSLQ?” I stumbled across it as a teenager at the library and had to check it out because it sounded so crazy. I had a good laugh this morning remembering that.

  4. Shulamuth on March 21, 2010 10:01 pm

    I’ve always had a fondness for POSSLQ, as well as the traditional “Ur, um” (as in “this is my Ur, um, … Romeo”. But both tend to pale fairly fast.

    I’ve used “housemate” or “boarder” (with wink) in similar situations. These also pale rapidly. And since I live alone at this point, also inaccurate.

    Besides their names (which I agree is the most sensible answer) I do use “boyfriend” (or actually “one of my boyfriends” so as not to imply exclusivity) silly ‘though it sounds from someone collecting social security. Also, in some circles, “Sweety” (which is something of a term of art among the polyamorous). And “Escort” on occasion. Probably my most consistent term is “S/O”, with either of the two gentlemen I’m most likely to be hanging out with referred to as “S-S/O” or Statistically Significant Other (a term I co-opted from XKCD).

  5. Molly on March 22, 2010 10:13 am

    I suspect you’re already familiar with this, but it’s still pretty good:

    My POSSLQ by Charles Osgood

    Come live with me and be my love,
    And we will some new pleasures prove
    Of golden sands and crystal brooks
    With silken lines, and silver hooks.
    There’s nothing that I wouldn’t do
    If you would be my POSSLQ.

    You live with me, and I with you,
    And you will be my POSSLQ.
    I’ll be your friend and so much more;
    That’s what a POSSLQ is for.

    And everything we will confess;
    Yes, even to the IRS.
    Some day on what we both may earn,
    Perhaps we’ll file a joint return.
    You’ll share my pad, my taxes, joint;
    You’ll share my life – up to a point!
    And that you’ll be so glad to do,
    Because you’ll be my POSSLQ.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind