A girl I know at work has had 4 boyfriends in the last year. She describes them at the time as ‘my other half’.
This seems to me a strange usage. Shouldn’t this term be used for your spouse or ‘one true love’ ?
At the time she may believe them to be her “one true love”.
At any rate, I think it’s ok to use the term for any monogamous relationship really.
That’s probably because it is really difficult to come up with a term for “live-in significant other that I don’t plan on marrying anytime soon” that
[ul]
[li]isn’t overly cutesy (“my sweetie”) [/li][li]isn’t too youthful (“my boyfriend” when you’re both over thirty)[/li][li]does not create confusion about the relationship by using a term reserved for other kinds of relationships (“my housemate, my friend, my fiancé”) [/li][li]isn’t too graphic: “my lover”[/li][li]or too long “my live-in significant other that I don’t plan on marrying anytime soon because we don’t really believe in marriage and We’re not quite sure about eacht other byt who really is, but anyway, yes, you should invite us together to your party.” [/ul][/li]
“My other half”, said with just enough irony, really isn’t such a bad choice then.
Having no idea in what context this term was used, or in what tone of voice it was delivered, my suggestion is she is a romantic who is looking for her one true love, her “other half”?
I just hate the term, period. It implies that I’m not a whole person without <person’s name> to complete me. Ick.
I’ve always preferred the term “My Social Secretary”.
Of course, I usually get pinched when I say that.
“A girl I know at work has had 4 boyfriends in the last year. She describes them at the time as ‘my other half’.”
Is my math wrong, or does this make her 2.5 people?
I’ve always just referred to my boyfriend as “my boyfriend,” “Kenny,” or “the boy.” The boy is usually when I’m saying something about him having to do something (take out the garbage, clean the room, et cetera), or when I’m feeling cutesy.
He refers to me as “my girlfriend,” “Tasha,” “my woman,” and “the man in the relationship.” (inside joke) Occasionally if he’s feeling like raising my ire he’ll call me “my old lady,” which is ironic because he’s 14 years older than I am.
I’ve never referred to anyone as “my other half,” simply because I’ve never felt like I was missing half of myself. My parents call each other that, but they’re so in love it’s disgusting at points, considering they’ve been married 22 years and counting, and gone through two infidelities, a drug addiction, alcoholism, homelessness…yeah. My dad refers to my mom as his other half, and my mom refers to my dad as her husband. My dad’s a romantic at heart, I guess.
~Tasha
It doesn’t mean that. It means that this parade of dudes is her “other half” only in the sense that slices of bread are the “other half” of my toaster. :rolleyes:
(rolling eyes at her, not you, Rodd)