# Does use of the term "partner" make you curious?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-use-of-the-term-partner-make-you-curious/563178>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 6, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-use-of-the-term-partner-make-you-curious/563178 "2010-12-06T19:02:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-use-of-the-term-partner-make-you-curious/563178/101 "2010-12-08T05:44:34Z")

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> [@Miller](#):
>
> Because more than once, I’ve heard a woman I’m interested in mention a girlfriend, and I can’t tell if that means she’s already in a relationship, or just watches too much _Sex in the City_.

I’ve heard girls and women using “girlfriend” to mean simply a female friend all my life in California.

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**Author:** ![mookieblaylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@mookieblaylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mookieblaylock)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-use-of-the-term-partner-make-you-curious/563178/102 "2010-12-08T07:26:33Z")

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Nope, just makes me depressed. I know I’ll never be in any romantic relationship of my own so seeing others in happy relationships just makes me sad (and a little spiteful, not gonna lie).

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-use-of-the-term-partner-make-you-curious/563178/103 "2010-12-08T15:04:04Z")

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> [@mookieblaylock](#):
>
> Nope, just makes me depressed. I know I’ll never be in any romantic relationship of my own so seeing others in happy relationships just makes me sad (and a little spiteful, not gonna lie).

**mookie** , instead of hijacking other people’s threads with your cries for attention, please return to the thread you started about your depression, read it carefully, and consider some of the caring advice offered there.

**twickster** , MPSIMS moderator

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**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-use-of-the-term-partner-make-you-curious/563178/104 "2010-12-08T15:11:55Z")

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Every time I hear someone refer to their “partner” I can’t help but picture a cowboy (or cowgirl, depending on the situation.) So the mental picture I get is not of same-sex people having sex, it is of the speaker standing close to someone in western garb, perhaps with a horse or six-shooters. That puzzled look on my face is me trying to reconcile the picture with the reality.

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