# Has the meaning of spouse changed? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2022, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178 "2022-11-01T23:37:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/21 "2022-11-02T20:49:55Z")
I’ve never heard a young person use the word “spouse.” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/22 "2022-11-02T21:15:15Z")
S’pose it is ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/23 "2022-11-02T21:55:40Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > I’ve never heard a young person use the word “spouse.” That’s surprising. As a more gender-neutral term than husband or wife, I’d have thought it would be preferred among young people. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/24 "2022-11-05T03:42:00Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > I know a number of people who are anti-marriage (for various reasons), and have all the characteristics of a marriage (bought property together, children together) but do not have, or want, a marriage certificate. When **DesertWife** were married we had a minister – Universal Life Church – and everything but we did not apply for and did not get a license. In the 6+ years we were together before she died, not once were we asked to produce one. I’m pretty sure being a cis- hetero-couple played a large part in that. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/25 "2022-11-05T03:47:13Z")
I think it becomes an issue if she died without a will and someone wanted to challenge whether you were really married and thus had a claim on her estate. Also, it might matter if you had to make medical decisions on her behalf. Maybe the hospital just assumes you are the husband but if someone from her family came and challenged that then you’d have some problems. I am curious if you filed taxes jointly or if the government would not let that happen? Do you get Social Security benefits from your deceased wife? For day-to-day living though…no one cares. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/26 "2022-11-05T03:47:58Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > In the 6+ years we were together before she died, not once were we asked to produce one. If you were looking to get some benefits based on being married to someone that had died, you’d best believe that you’d have to produce a marriage certificate. I’m fairly sure my mother had to bring her parents’ marriage certificate in order to get my grandmother VA benefits after my grandfather died. I think they were just short of 70 years. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/27 "2022-11-05T05:14:36Z")
I was about to say. We had to show our marriage certificate to enroll my wife in my medical insurance. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/28 "2022-11-05T05:26:33Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > When **DesertWife** were married we had a minister – Universal Life Church – and everything but we did not apply for and did not get a license. Now I know that the Universal Life Church in some ways isn’t much of a church, but at very least that contrasts with what my mother reports for the Catholic Church. She’s been engaged for many years now, and probably isn’t going to actually get married because of the difficulties surrounding the legalities of civil marriage, and says that the Catholic Church will not marry you if you’re not getting a civil marriage. It just goes to show how much she cares about the teachings of the church; if they’re inconvenient to your lifestyle, you can just ignore them! Sounds a lot like a certain side of the political spectrum these days. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/29 "2023-12-04T16:51:24Z")
In an update, Eilish has now gone public as being attracted to women. She says she never mentioned this before because she thought it was obvious and everyone already knew. Well, no, Billie, if you post pictures of you and your boyfriend there are going to be people who will assume you’re heterosexual. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/30 "2023-12-08T05:41:17Z")
You should Tweet this! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/31 "2023-12-08T13:52:06Z")
Since Billie Eilish was never married before (and isn’t now), this “spouse” couldn’t possibly be a “new spouse”. The news items all say that this person she’s dated recently is a 31-year-old man named Jesse Rutherford. (Eilish is 20, incidentally.) Various news items mention this couple as getting together and breaking up several times over the past year or so. It’s not clear if they are together at the moment. Eilish has said that she considers herself bisexual (or whatever the currently hip term for it is). It’s not clear if she has any current partner. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/32 "2023-12-08T14:06:21Z")
Eilish is 21, turning 22 in a week and a half. That’s older news you must be reading. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/33 "2023-12-08T14:21:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Obviously, these pop ups I designed to get people to click on them. And it worked. It was an intentional misuse of the word designed to get your immediate attention, interest, and “click”. My vote for “Worst Garbage News” is something called, “Dog Tube”. At best they grossly mislead people and, at worst, their titles are bold faced lies. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/34 "2023-12-08T16:17:47Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > My vote for “Worst Garbage News” is something called, “Dog Tube”. At best they grossly mislead people and, at worst, their titles are bold faced lies. Is that the one that will falsely post that a celebrity has died? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/35 "2023-12-08T16:18:49Z")
Yep, among any number of other atrocities that might generate interest in their garbage site. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/36 "2023-12-08T16:21:05Z")
That’s why I get all my news about celebrity deaths from the Death Pool thread. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/37 "2023-12-08T17:11:18Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > It was an intentional misuse of the word designed to get your immediate attention, interest, and “click”. Exactly. It was just clickbait. That seems to be the best this thread last year came up with, and I agree with you and the others that it’s just a BS use of the word. Even urbandictionary doesn’t really have “unmarried committed partner” as a possible definition, and it has every random definition there is for a word. It does have “spouse” as code for same-sex partner if you’re talking to somebody you don’t want to come out to, and I could see that instead of using a word like “husband” or “wife,” but that’s as close as it gets, and is nowhere near as up-voted as the definition we’re all familiar with, nor does it have as good an upvote:downvote ratio. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178/38 "2023-12-09T04:37:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Eilish is 21, turning 22 in a week and a half. That’s older news you must be reading. Yeah. I copied that from some news item that discussed the fact that, at that point, Eilish was dating Rutherford. It said that she was 20 and he was 31. It must have been approximately a year-old news item. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-meaning-of-spouse-changed/974178.md?page=1)