Word Choice Pet Peeve

[debka_notion]

If baffles me when people refer to someone else's significant other, well, boyfriend, as "the boy". First off, because I've never heard a girlfriend referred to as "the girl"- and if someone did, the guy to whom they were speaking would probably get offended. Secondly, and more importantly, by this point, and to my mind if one is dating at all, one is more than a child. "The/your man", perhaps might be acceptable, although that carries all sorts of other undesired overtones, and the gender reverse issue still applies. I often go for "your/the young man" which must have other issues, but at least gives everyone involved some aspect of adulthood, and "your/the young lady" is also fairly unobjectionable. It does sound rather formal, but I rarely have a problem with that. Thirdly, it could apply just as easily to one's son as one's significant other, and that would be problematic indeed.

Comments

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

It occurs to me that men used to use "(possessive) girl" to refer to girlfriends quite a bit, so women using "boy" might well be a reaction against / imitation of that, even if "girl" isn't used that way anymore. But then again, it might have nothing to do with that.