The two are mutually exclusive terms , aren't they?

Boyfriend & girlfriend sound a far more casual affair than partners, whihc in my mind implies some kind of commitment, no?

Oh dear poor Darren, I fear you may be out on a limb here.  Then again it could be me. 

IMO there's nothing unPC with the terms boyfriend and girlfriend.  They just sound a little...teenager-ish to me.  So much so, I wouldn't ask you how your girlfriend was.  Far simpler to call her by her name.

Hmmm, not sure it didn't come about before that even, a more respectable alternative to "live in lover", or am I just thinking this cos there was no gay in the village where I grew up & unmarried lovers were frowned upon?  (Yes, yes, I did have to time travel to get here, please don't tell everyone).

Fully agreed on the whole PC gone mad thing.  I would prefer my boyfriend to be refer to as such, or as Rich (his name, not an adjective), though I do feel he should be above the "that bloke you're seeing" status.

Before we got married and were living together my husband's aunt would refer to us as POSSLQ's (pronounced posselcues) - Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters.

I thought that was kind stupid - but hey - it was better then getting hassled for "living in sin"

I agree that the whole Boyfriend/Girlfriend thing sounds a little teenagerish - but I don't think its offensive or anything... my old english teacher used to say she was too old to have a boyfriend so she called her partner her "gentleman friend"

I'm just blathering on and on because I'm trying to not share the adventure Mandie (andromeda) and I had today because I think its her turn to tell it

Stead is pritty much right really.. I often refure to my girly as my parnter. Simply because I saves me from people being annoying, the normal responce if I tell someone I'm a lesbain is... Oh... and then a long uncomfertable silence. Sometimes you get the equilty annoying... wow! thats so amasing!!!....

I'd be nice if people just asked what she did for a living or anything else they'd ask a straight couple. Its really nothing to do with PCness.. it's just easyer

ddvmor wrote:

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Oh I don't diagree... but when did it actually become unacceptable to use the B or G words.   Also, am I alone in thinking (and I probably am) that 'Partner' sounds kinda... gay? 

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I agree Darren, whenever I hear "Partners", "Gay" is the first thing that comes to my mind. I think it is a way for them to refer to their other halves without lying or giving away that they are gay.

So I guess it's probably wrong of me that I either call Darrin "the boy" or "my wife"?

 

Aodan wrote:

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I'm just blathering on and on because I'm trying to not share the adventure Mandie (andromeda) and I had today because I think its her turn to tell it

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A story you request and a story you shall have!

(Beware: I'm never one to tell a short story )

Ok so, on monday I hopped a train into NYC to visit Jackie. We talked, we ate, I watched Jackie try to eat her dinner with one hand while holding the baby in the other. Was interesting. Watched Kev trip down a flight of stairs holding the baby while Jackie freaked. All in all, a pleasant dinner.

So after dinner, Jackie hands the kid off to Kev and she and I walked back to her apartment so she could have some non-baby time. We get about... 3 blocks away from her house? something like that... and sit on a bench against the stone wall surrounding Fort Tryon Park. We sit chatting for maybe an hour, when all of a sudden I hear something rustling behind us. Thinking its a huge NYC rat (they carry switchblades you know...) I LEAP off the bench. Jackie sees me and leaps too going "WHAT?!" So I point to the top of the stone wall and there we see a teeny little kitten face poking out from the plants. The cat sees us and starts rubbing up against the plants and rolling over on to her back... all in all very friendly. So as we're standing there watching this cat, two people walk past, see us looking into the bushes and says "Yeah I like those plants too" to which we laugh and Jackie mumbles "thanks for reminding us that we look like a$$hats standing here". So, not being two chicks that can leave a cat like this, Jackie gets on the phone to try and find animal services or the aspca or someone who can come take her, but being that it's around 11pm or so, everything is closed. While she's on the phone, the cat jumps down onto the bench with me and I see how skinny she is. When I pet down her back, I could feel every bone in her body. So I have Jackie wait there with her while I ran to the little bodega and picked up 2 large cans of cat food. The cat munched through those two cans in a way I've never seen. She had obviously not eaten in quite a while. So now we're sitting there trying to figure out what to do with her because I just couldn't bring myself to leave her there. Jackie couldn't take her because she already has three cats and a baby... I really couldn't take her because my apartment has a 2 pet limit, I already have two dogs, and my mom is cat sitting my two cats for me in NY until I buy a house... and even though I tried to convince my mom to take her, the force was strong with that one.

So I figure I'll take the cat back to my moms house and bring her to one of the local shelters when they open the next morning. I stay with the cat and Jackie runs back to her house to get a carrier. From what she said (and Jackie, correct me if I'm remembering this wrong ) she went into the house and said to Kev "I'm not here, I'm not here... I'm just getting a cat carrier" to which Kevin seemed a bit unnerved because, as Jackie had mentioned to me previously, "if I bring home another cat, my marriage will end" lol Anyway, she comes back with the carrier and she coaxes the cat into it... which was surprisingly easy... and after going back to her house for a few minutes, I hop on the subway to get home.

Well let me tell you, this is the first cat I've ever had that has no carrier issues. If you put any of my cats in a carrier, you'd think we were bringing them to their death with the amount they complain. Nope, this one just ate a little and fell asleep. I had her on the subway, on a train, and in a car over the course of say 2 hours and she didn't so much as meow once.

Got her home, fed her, etc. So Tuesday I go down to this shelter near my moms house that has a 90% no kill rate and a really high adoption rate. I figure she's young (my guesstimate, about 6 months.. but hard to tell because shes so malnourished) she'd probably have a good chance of adoption. The shelter won't take her. They say there's some weird cat disease going on in their shelter right now and they can't take any more cats until Friday when everyone has been quarantined and on medication... which is not going to work because I had to leave on Wednesday. So I take the cat back to my moms house, and leave her there while I go back to the city to see Spamalot (side note: Spamalot ROCKED!) Pre-show, we went out to dinner.. was my mom, me, my uncles and mom's friend Rose and her husband (whos name I never found out ) Turns out Rose works for a 100% no kill shelter upstate and said that if I couldn't find a home for her, she'd take her on Sunday. Still a bit late, but now mom said she'd hold on to the cat until then.

Decision time: do I leave the cat with mom to go to the shelter, or do I bring her back on the plane with me.

Well anyone who knows how animal crazy I am wouldn't even need to be asked that question After talking to Darrin and him saying how much he wants the cat, I packed her up and brought her home on the plane. (First time in my life that my carry on luggage breathed) Not one peep from her on the plane. She just slept the whole time.

So I've snuck her into my house. She's hanging out in my bedroom until I can get her to the vet (tomorrow) She's probably the biggest sweetheart I've ever met. She's been named Tryon after where we found her. And if my landlord finds out that I'm over my two pet limit, we think Darrin's mom would hold onto her for me until we buy a house.

Ok... so here's pics of where we found her...

-- Edited by Andromeda at 18:27, 2005-09-08

See! I told you guys it was a good story - with a happy ending! :)


And yes, another cat probably would have ended my marriage.

No.. no they're not...

I'm not allergic to lawyers, which goes in their favour.

Oh, and I've never known one to crap in my garden, neither do they rip open any rubbish bags left out with chicken bits in them.

back to the partners thing.. when i hear it, i presume either same-sex couple or living-together-couple (of which they could be either same or not same)

cute cat story

Well, we'll need more info.  Any safe places to take a cat... 
     ...clubbing?
     ...for a walk?
     ...skating?
     ...out for dinner?

Hang on a minute how did Glasgow get into this conversation?

Sad but true, you could have a battered deep fried Mars Bar supper (chips) covered in salt and vinigar up here no problem, I've never tried it. Although I must admit I am partial to a deep fried pizza once in a Blue moon.