It takes a village but the village is nuts

[Hawkmoon]

As a related aside, over the (many) years I've run into a couple of women who would always refer to their off-scene significant other as "my spouse",  not "my husband".  Always made me wonder if that was a lesbian partner.

The same question arises when I read articles that refer to someone's "partner."

[Ben]

The same question arises when I read articles that refer to someone's "partner."

I remember who weird that sounded to me when I first heard it in grad school. Boomer here, but "partner" was often how guys referred to each other for more than work partnerships - it was for fishing, hunting and what not. You wouldn't say "hunting partner", you just said "partner" and everyone knew it was for some recreational pursuit or other.

Hearing girls use it for their boyfriends was weird. Moreso when guys used it for their girlfriend. Even weirder, grad school was where I first learned of the phenomena of people getting married making up a new last name composed of a part of each of theirs, or guys hyphenating their last name. I still don't get that. If the girl doesn't want the guy's last name, just keep your own. Much easier.

[zxcvbob]

I remember who weird that sounded to me when I first heard it in grad school. Boomer here, but "partner" was often how guys referred to each other for more than work partnerships - it was for fishing, hunting and what not. You wouldn't say "hunting partner", you just said "partner" and everyone knew it was for some recreational pursuit or other.

Hearing girls use it for their boyfriends was weird. Moreso when guys used it for their girlfriend. Even weirder, grad school was where I first learned of the phenomena of people getting married making up a new last name composed of a part of each of theirs, or guys hyphenating their last name. I still don't get that. If the girl doesn't want the guy's last name, just keep your own. Much easier.

You can't say "girl" or "guy" anymore (guy is almost okay)  It's racist.   

[lee n. field]

The same question arises when I read articles that refer to someone's "partner."

"Partner" I take as "together but not officially married".  Often homosexual, but can be hetero.

[lee n. field]

Hearing girls use it for their boyfriends was weird. Moreso when guys used it for their girlfriend. Even weirder, grad school was where I first learned of the phenomena of people getting married making up a new last name composed of a part of each of theirs, or guys hyphenating their last name. I still don't get that. If the girl doesn't want the guy's last name, just keep your own. Much easier.

Back in the '80s, a married couple we knew started off both with his last name.  Then she changed hers it to HerName-HisName.  Then finally went back to her unmarried name.  All while being married.  She "didn't like his last name"  (which was "Lackey", so I can maybe see that.)  They moved away before we could see the end of all this, but I always wondered if they eventually split up.

[HankB]

As a related aside, over the (many) years I've run into a couple of women who would always refer to their off-scene significant other as "my spouse",  not "my husband".  Always made me wonder if that was a lesbian partner.

If you ever tune in to some house remodeling show on HGTV, you'll see they seem to select for a lot of those. 

[Fly320s]

If you ever tune in to some house remodeling show on HGTV, you'll see they seem to select for a lot of those. 

I work with two people who were on one of those house buying shows.  House Hunters, maybe?  They said the whole thing is essentially scripted and the couples have already decided on a house and had an offer accepted.  I shouldn't be surprised, because Reality TV is anything but reality.

[WLJ]

I work with two people who were on one of those house buying shows.  House Hunters, maybe?  They said the whole thing is essentially scripted and the couples have already decided on a house and had an offer accepted.  I shouldn't be surprised, because Reality TV is anything but reality.

[Ron]

I work with two people who were on one of those house buying shows.  House Hunters, maybe?  They said the whole thing is essentially scripted and the couples have already decided on a house and had an offer accepted.  I shouldn't be surprised, because Reality TV everything on TV including the news is anything but an accurate representation of reality.

More accurate 

[HankB]

I work with two people who were on one of those house buying shows.  House Hunters, maybe?  They said the whole thing is essentially scripted and the couples have already decided on a house and had an offer accepted.  I shouldn't be surprised, because Reality TV is anything but reality.

I'm embarrassed to admit that the first time I tuned in to "Moonshiners" I didn't fully realize that it was fake scripted until about halfway between the first and second commercial break - I knew something was wrong with the show since nobody sane will admit on TV that they cheat on their taxes (even if they're using a pseudonym) but since it was on the Discovery channel I thought it might be for real.

It wasn't and isn't.

Duh. 

[kgbsquirrel]

I'm embarrassed to admit that the first time I tuned in to "Moonshiners" I didn't fully realize that it was fake scripted until about halfway between the first and second commercial break - I knew something was wrong with the show since nobody sane will admit on TV that they cheat on their taxes (even if they're using a pseudonym) but since it was on the Discovery channel I thought it might be for real.

It wasn't and isn't.

Duh. 

But to be fair, tax evasion is our nation's founding sport. 

[RoadKingLarry]

Back in the '80s, a married couple we knew started off both with his last name.  Then she changed hers it to HerName-HisName.  Then finally went back to her unmarried name.  All while being married.  She "didn't like his last name"  (which was "Lackey", so I can maybe see that.)  They moved away before we could see the end of all this, but I always wondered if they eventually split up.

I know several womens that have hyphenated their name when they got married. A couple of them were already established in their field of work when they got married so kind of makes sense. My #1 sailing buddy's wife just kept her last name.
I know several couples where the guy took the wife's last name, the latest is one of my nieces and her husband.
What ever works for them is none of my business.

[lee n. field]

Back in the '80s, a married couple we knew started off both with his last name.  Then she changed hers it to HerName-HisName.  Then finally went back to her unmarried name.  All while being married.  She "didn't like his last name"  (which was "Lackey", so I can maybe see that.)  They moved away before we could see the end of all this, but I always wondered if they eventually split up.

OK, now that's a little bit weird.

One of the few posts on my Book of Faces that I've set to world viewable is a link to the obituary of a lady we knew a while back, the mother of some college friends.  It'll get random likes from spammy accounts, now and then.

Who should "like" it today?   This lady.  The lady I was talking about, the one shuffling her name around back in the late '80s, trying to figure out what she wanted to be called.  We have had zero contact with them, nor news, for 30+ years.  I'd totally forgotten her husband's name, and gotten the spelling not-quite-right.

Weird.