Basically just something people say that indicates a position indirectly, like how seperatists from a given region might always say they’re from [region] and not [country] or how trump supporters call AI “SI” now.

  • zoloftt@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I’ll contribute. I refer to my wife as my “partner”.

    People on the left just continue conversation no problem. People on the right pause and you can see the wheels turning.

    I’m a white not very masculine male.

    • Katana314@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      “No, don’t worry, Mr. Conservative. I’m male, she’s female, your norms aren’t being broken yet.”
      “…Yeh, but partner implies she’s your equal. That don’t sit right.”

    • Blisterexe@lemmy.zipOP
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      7 days ago

      Very good example, thank you, whenever someone says “partner” I immediately assume they’re at least somewhat woke.

    • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Another white not very masculine male here - which I think is every bit as normal as being a woman who isn’t an insanely hot babe. It’s weird when things that are almost fringe become unattainable standards for a vast majority who really have no reason to feel inadequate.

      • zoloftt@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        The “white not very masculine male” piece was added to highlight that some people make assumptions about my sexuality when I use the word partner.

        I’m plenty confident and happy with myself. I’m pretty fit, just not big.

        I’m happy to give out hugs though! The marketing world is hell bent on making people feel inadequate so I understand your sentiment.

    • kestrel7_7@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      I do this. Someone called me out for pretending to be gay. Stolen valor!

      I was just like. Sorry? I tried to be inclusive. Oh well, can’t win 'em all.

      • zoloftt@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        I’m sorry to hear that :( some people can’t be happy unless they’re angry at someone I guess.

    • pHr34kY@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      The first time a friend referred to me wife as my “partner”, I questioned his choice of words because he was well aware that I’m not gay.

      Like, I would still just carry on in convo, but if I hear “partner”, I make a mental note that they’re gay. The correlation has close to a 100% hit rate.

      • WesternInfidels@feddit.online
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        6 days ago

        Online, at least, I’ve probably heard more hetero people than gay people use “partner.” In some cases they were in fact perfectly conventionally full-blown married, they just weren’t interested in sharing any more details than they had to to tell whatever story they were telling, because that detail wasn’t important for the story.

        • pHr34kY@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          That checks out. You’d use the term to be deliberately vague. Online, you’d be giving away your gender and marital status to the scraperbots. In person, a vague response lands differently. Particularly when speaking one-on-one.

      • zoloftt@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        You know what’s funny about that? A lot of my hetero friends also say partner.

        I started using it because it removes the baggage that gendered terms carry. My wife is my best friend. I like to do everything with her. We split chores pretty evenly.

      • BreadOven@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        I know many (myself included) who are in heterosexual relationships and say partner due to not being married. It’s a pretty common thing…

          • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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            5 days ago

            Well people who aren’t speaking English probably aren’t using an English word, yeah. No shit.

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        Same. You’re getting downvoted because lemmy cannot allow for regional language distinctions. Not even different countries, regions. It’s a big world.

        No one where I’m at would refer to a married couple as partners. Nothing wrong with that, but it usually connotes a gay relationship.

        • zoloftt@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          I promise you it’s not that. It’s the way that individual wrote their comment. Like it was offensive to be considered gay. Why does it matter?

          And you keep trying to tie it to a region. I think the only “regional” distinction you can make is rural vs anywhere else. But that’s more population density related not regional. It’s not really a pop vs soda situation.

          Maybe you and this other person should reconsider your assumptions about the usage of the word “partner” hahahaha.