A 'partner' is someone you are in a LTR with, probably cohabiting, not someone you met last month or are dating.

[RubberTreePlant]

It means life partner not shag partner.

AIBU?

Me too, "partner" seems to be the default word these days - in my view, you're not partners if you're only sharing bodily fluids

I think a lot of "grown ups" prefer the phrase over boyfriend / girlfriend. I quite like to say boyfriend personally, even though we're a bit old for that!

Yanbu, it’s over used and used to piss me off before we’re were able to get married ( before marriage equality) as I had to say partner rather than wife. anything under a couple of years is still boyfriend/ girlfriend as far as i’m Concerned...

I got caught out a couple of times, once when somebody introduced me to their ‘partner’ and I assumed they meant girlfriend but no it was their business partner.
And also the other way round, thought the person was their actual business partner but was their girlfriend.

To be honest I wish they just said girlfriend/boyfriend, it would have saved the awkwardness all round.

I have married friends who deliver call each other ‘partners’ as they think it is ‘cooler’ than using the words husband & wife even though they have been married over 40 years .

To me a partner is a long term relationship that usually involves cohabiting, but doesn't have to.

I would say I was seeing someone if I had only been dating a few weeks/months, but would call them a partner once we had a shared life, home, shared finances (not shared accounts necessarily but a joint overview on things).

I find saying partner for new relationships to seem desperate or trying to attach status or to legitimise it (when nobody actually needs to as it's perfectly fine to be seeing someone or in the early stages of a relationship).

Then again, I'm also one of those pendants who dislikes people talking about husband/wife when they aren't married. You're not married therefore husband and wife are not legitimate terms and your relationship is perfectly valid without appropriating inaccurate terms (it also seems to happen more in couples who are insecure and want others to validate their relationship in my experience).

"I like 'date' for the older pre-partner. "

I wouldn't understand that. Your 'date' is the person you're on a date with at that particular moment, not the the person you're dating regularly.

"It's not so much about the length of the relationship but the seriousness of it; basically if you see yourselves as being together for the long term (i.e. not just having a bit of fun for now) but are unmarried then it's partner."

I totally disagree. You could hope to be with your boyfriend of one month long term, but that still wouldn't make him your partner.