It’s interesting how the meaning of terms change over time. A couple of years ago, my dad’s partner died of cancer, and I’d be telling friends exactly that “my dad’s partner died of cancer.” Then I thought about it for a bit, and thought that perhaps some people would assume that Dad is gay. That’s perfectly fine if he is, but I think Mom might be a little upset after 40 years of marriage.
Now I try to be careful to say, “My dad’s business partner died a few years ago.” Same for SpouseO - my husband’s started up a business with a co-worker of his, so I try to be careful to say “SpouseO’s business partner did this the other day.” If the context wasn’t clear and I didn’t insert “business” in there, I can see people wondering why Snicks talks about herself in the third person, I guess.
Here, I call SpouseO SpouseO, obviously. (Heck, I call him that to his face.) To my family and friends, I do call him “my Dave” sometimes to differentiate him from my brother Dave - having a common name can often suck.