Mumsnet Talk

We aused to refer to MiL as The Memsahib.

Wiki spouse it says it is for any partners

Yes, spouse applies

Spouse is only for married partners

I thought spouse was only for married couples, I could be wrong. "Significant other" is also wanky, and long winded. I say my fella or my bloke informally. Might start just referring him as my Mr. Until we get married.

I don't really get either how being half of a couple (ie 2) makes you half a person? Surely half of 2 is 1 is it not?

Well 'the husband' will be wondering where his dinner is and as I have spent the last our on here I will have to say "in 'the chipshop'"

DH refers to me as "the wife" and he always referred to a close friend if mine as "my second wife". In front of her and her dh as well. As she got taken by cancer 3 years ago I would love her to still be here to be referred to like that, it was a joke. He is not a chauvinist at all!

Oh dear, my dh calls me wifey sometimes. It never occurred to me to be offended

I hate the word "hubby". It makes me want to hit the user!

OH's ex boss used to refer to his wife as "the wife". I asked him whose wife he was referring to.

Hubby is AWFUL. It's just the way it sounds. The words Bupa and hubba and bubba also make me cringe.

'utterling' - I've just invented a new word

The one I really hate is "hubby" - utterling vomit making tweeness. As would be 'wifey' but you don't seem to hear that.

My mum is not into the Feminist movement but once told me she hates my other half, since she's not a half.

I don't like. I don't think DH has ever used it.

But if we want to discuss outdated terminology - it's better than 'er indoors

Too true

Not all of us need to get a life. He is right that some do though, along with a grip.

My husband refers to me as 'The Boss'. I can live with that

Anyway, just told dh some of the responses and he said we "all need to get a life". (doesn't take critism well)
At least he might think twice before he calls me "the wife" again. Small steps. I will get respect one day

Spouse?

I hate the term 'the wife'. Might as well be 'the woman' or 'the book'.
I do refer to my kids as 'the kids', but only in the plural, I wouldn't dream of referring to one of them as 'the son' or 'the daughter'.
I also think we need a new term for adult heterosexuals living together. I don't like OH, but we're too old and have been living together too long to be 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'. 'Partner' could refer to a business arrangement. Any suggestions ?

I think it all depends how sensitive you are to the possible meanings and origins behind phrases. I dislike "the wife" because I feel like it probably originates in the days when wives were objectified and husbands acted like their wives needed placating or mollifying so that said husband could go out and behave how he pleased, i.e. "I'll just have to run that by the wife first."

Similarly, I dislike "other half" because it makes me think, erm, are you really just half a person now you're in a couple?

And I was very surprised when my mixed-race husband described himself as "half-caste" on a form asking for his ethnicity, because to me that's an insulting term. But he couldn't give a crap about the origins of the term or whether it was perceived by some to be insulting, it was just his way of describing himself.

I'm not saying my way of thinking is particularly rational or helpful, because generally the phrases aren't intended to be derogatory. But I am, like many others, sensitive to these meanings so when I hear terms like "the wife" they grate on me.

How about this one? "The Minister for War and Finance". My BIL calls his wife that and his brother, my husband, thinks it's funny.

Though I notice he never calls me it

I sometimes refer to DW as SWMBO, my honey. The one that offends her is "squeeze" so I don't say that. She wouldn't swear at me though just as I wouldn't swear at her. That would be rude, unpleasant, and show a shameful lack of vocabulary.

I get called the hubby, my man, himself, my sweetie.

I'm really sorry if any of you are offended by the way your partners speak of you. Of course, I'm sorry if they are offended by you, too.