hubby, husband, etc....

I've always associated partner with business! LOL

Depends on his conduct that day. LOL. After 56 years, I call him Buster...( I know that is also the cat's name) or Al.

If I talk about him on a forum, I say "my husband"...or call him Jody. I never use DH. In real life, I do the same. I don't have any pet names for him. I just call him Jody, which is actually his nickname, and he calls me Marilyn or usually "GD Marilyn!" the curse words. Doesn't bother me...I just tell him to quit talking to me like I am a deckhand. (I think he is very nice to the deckhands...they all want to work on the boat he is on.)

Big Daddy
Dear
some times the big jerk I'm married to...

If he's ignoring me...out in public..I call him by his full name...he immediately looks at me. His middle name is his everyday name. So when I add the whole thing...He knows I'm talking to him.

It depends on the day. Sometimes he's my sweetie, sometimes he's my husband, and sometimes he's ignored.

We have new tenants who just moved in to the cottage on our property. DH and I thought they were married. They are the sweetest pair LOL. He refers to her as his wife and she to him as her husband. We found out, quite by accident, that they are not legally married. They are nicer and kinder to each other than some married folks we've known, so to us, they are the epitome of what folks (married or not married) should act like and call each other.

Hon or Bob or Honey Bear... after being together for over 40 years... he answers to anything at all..

At 50+ I just can't say boyfriend. I say SO on here. To strangers I will say husband to keep it simple. Partner is ok to use in introductions.

This is a subject we have talked about many times. If it doesn't matter (like a waitress or a checkout clerk) he's my husband. If I am introducing him for the first time, he is just Jim. Otherwise he is Honey or Sweetheart.
I loathe calling him my boyfriend! He is hardly a boy. (although he has introduced me more than once as "my girl"...hmmmm - although if he dared call me his "lady friend" heads would roll LOL!))
The tricky part for us is he looks much older than me. We always get a puzzled look from strangers wondering "are they a couple?...not quite father/daughter...????
I hate it.

Before we married, I usually called him my SO. If people seemed to not understand the term SO, I'd call him my dear companion.

Now I call him my spouse. I seldom call him my husband. In English, spouse is generic, and, IMO, conveys less of the feeling of ownership!

Hah! I was all prepared to say we've never had live-in help. Had a live-out 'summer girl' once when DS was a toddler; she came for several hours several days a week. Neighbors with more kids regularly had live-in 'summer girls'.

My husband is my husband; don't think of him as a 'live-in'. Heck, the DOG is 'live-in'! DH could be called a live 'un. He's healthy and active and makes me laugh. Does that count? LOL (I call him by his given name, "Honey", and "Sweetheart".)

You don't want to know...

Haven't had a 2-legged companion for years ...

... and the little 4-legged furry ones I often refer to as "furriner".

ole joyful

I have 2 sisters in their 50's who have live-ins. I never know how to refer to them when speaking to others. Mom has figured it out, though. She calls them her sins-in-law!

woodsy1...that made me snort!! :)

LOL I snorted too..

Yeah...Mom has that effect on people!

My boyfriend, I'd like to say husband, be a lot easier. He calls me "The Cook" or My cook. We've been together since 1986, longer than a lot of marriages. I never see it changing unless he wants to move to Montana, when he retires. I'll be staying right here.

We fell into that trap of calling each other mom and dad...you know how that starts when the kids are still at home..."go ask dad"..

I try not to because I don't like it. At least when others are around. It embarrasses me.

His name is Dennis and most of the time I call him Denny he calls me Patti. (I'm also known as Trisha and sometimes Patricia...but I'm usually in trouble when I hear that...8O)...)

patti

I just call him Harry, even when introducing him, I don't feel the need to say "my husband". Sometimes I call him by his middle name 'cause I like it. It's Bauchman.

Sins-in-law!! I love it!! She must be really witty. funny!!

LOL Pattico! My dh complained when the kids were little because I called him by his name and so did the kids. He wanted to be 'daddy'. He still complains because I called him a play on his name a couple of years ago and the kids call him that too. His family thinks it is funny, but he doesn't.

Woodsy1, that is hysterical...sins-in-law..I love it.

My hubby and I have been married for 40 years, and I always have called him "Love", even out in public. I rarely call him by his name Ivan. On any forum, I call him my hubby or use his real name.

I call my live-ins Annie and Pogo.

In public, I refer to him as husband and call him by his name.

At home, I call him baby dear, never his name.

I introduce DH as either Wes or my husband Wes. I think Partner is the best description for people who aren't married. I hear it a lot.

Harry.

And Sam.

And The Grump.

Lisa! We're "sister wives", LOL. Mine's a "Wes," too. Wes is part of his middle name. If anyone ever asks for XXX, his first name; I know they're a stranger or salesman.

When introducing him to strangers I call him "My husband, Wes."

Woody is my husband so I introduce him as such. If we weren't married, I'd introduce him as "the love of my life", most days. ;)

You don't want to know :)

Sue

I call him Dean. We are not married or in that "kind of" relationship. Best Man I ever slept down the hall from. He sleeps all day and stays up all night and I am early to rise early to bed.

I refer to mine as my First Husband.

He says he doesn't get it. I tell him never mind, the next one will. ;-)

BJ

BlueJeans.. you beat me to it! I call mine by his first name, but when I'm annoyed with him, I call him my "current husband". Lol!

Great minds, Susan! lol High Five! :-)

LOL!

"We've been together since 1986, longer than a lot of marriages."

We've been together since 1981, and we've been married since 1986. (Our wedding day was the 5th anniversary of the day we started "going together.")

We did live together for several of those five years before we got married, and we always referred to each other as "my honey." And we still call each other that when we're talking/texting/e-mailing each other. When he refers to me, he refers to me as his wife, and I refer to him as my Hubs.

When I introduce him, I say "this is my husband Curt". At home it could be anything...... but usually honey! Sometimes not so nice.....LOL

Like Patti we got into the habit of calling each other Momma and Daddy when th kids came along.Now we are Grannie or Geegee and Poppa.When the grandkids aren't around we call each other Honey.I introduce him as my husband and he introduces me as his wife.

Actually, if you have been together for a long time, say 7 years or more, yours may be considered a common-law marriage, and in that case, husband and wife may be appropriate. You need to check the laws of your locality to find out. However, there are other legal considerations such as health insurance, power of attourney, inheritance, co-ownership of property, etc. that you need to clarify between the two of you. Consult with an attourney.

This thread brings to mind another question for me. What about Social Security Benefits for the birth mother (partner) & children born out of wedlock in these kinds of relationships?

Example:

Our adult son qualified for additional SSI benefits because he was disabled less than six years, but before his 21 st birthday, when his dad retired at age 65. This additional benefit was a % of his father's SSI...had his dad not been a part of his life...what a loss.

And what about the ssi benefits those partners give up after a long standing relationship at the death of partner, not to mention "if legally married and divorced" after 10 years of marriage and then divorcing if a woman does not remarry, she is entitled to SSI benefits from her deceased spouse if it would be greater than hers.

Just thinking outside the box...something a lot more women should be doing...

Sorry forgot to try the bump technique

In order to establish a common-law marriage in states where such is recognized, the parties must have the intent to be married, and this must be expressed in words of the present tense. In addition, the couple must hold themselves out to the public as husband and wife, and they must be considered husband and wife by others. (There is no set time requirement, such as seven years, either.)

You cannot establish a common law marriage by accident just by living together, no matter how long.

The last time I looked it up, many states no longer recognize what was called "common law marriage." A common law marriage was a binding marriage contract, observed and celebrated in public, until the soonest opportunity for the circuit-riding minister or judge to come back around and make it really legal.

The few states that recognize "common law" require the couple to have joint financial accounts, hold property in both names, have a public announcemnt of a future wedding dates...etc., etc., etc. It was far easier to be legally married than to try to show "common law." And when "common law" connot be proved; (and it's almost impossible to prove it) it's the women and children who usually suffer.

While working all those years in a large jail facility I got so tired of hearing the druggie gang-bangers screaming "common law" as soon as the realized their shack-ups weren't getting the same benefits as a legal wife.

Marriage is holy and spiritual and binding and awesome. It's also a legal tool that protects women, children, and men.

I couldn't care less if men and women chose to live together. It's their business, and does not make them "good" or "bad." But a living-together couple is not a married couple. The legal issues are seperate from a married couple.

One couple I knew, in their mid-40s, decided to move in together in spite of the raised eyebrows and wagging tongues. Each had been divorced; one had grown and moved-away children.

They were both wonderful people and rather shy and conservative. In their area this was still rather shocking that they chose to "live together."

It bothered them, too, except they weren't about to announce the fact. After three weeks they "snuck off and eloped!" They did not tell anyone they were married until their second anniversary when they threw a party, produced the marriage certificate, and made their mamas extremely happy.

Maybe we could ask WHY people living together as a couple do not marry? Some social security or pension conflicts? In this day of pre-nup's, it wouldn't seem to be an inheritance problem.

I've heard people say things like, "It's just a piece of paper," but it's at least as important a paper as any other legal contract: Adoption, deed to your house, business partnership, car lease, wherever agreements need to have standing under the law.

We have gay partners petitioning to be permitted to marry, for both spiritual and legal reasons, so... how come?

Answer to first ? what do you call live-in? $hit head..and thats on a good day(actually,he doesnt live-in any longer,but almost at times.(wknds in other words)

and to answer the second question,which is from the psoter above me....I would marry or would have married the $hit head a long time ago,but he just won't...no actual reason,and cannot come up with a good one at any given time....hence $hit head

I'm legally married so it's Wes, Hubby, but mostly BabyLuvs. Yes, mine is Wes too. But, if i read the OP right the question was directed towards Non-married couples living together.

My Uncle has been living with his "...my life Companion..." for about two years, after they were friends for about 20 years.

I think: Life Companion, Life Partner, & Better/Other half are all pleasant and accurate. Less pleasant (IMO) MY spouse (IMO "my" declares ownership), or my civil partner, or my mistress.

Same Sex couples use almost every term we can think of (hubby/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse/...) and a few extra: Registered Domestic Partner (that's a category I've seen on tax and insurance forms), My Lover (which I think is the most accurately descriptive)...

It all depends on what you are comfortable with.

I think "sins-in-laws" is HILARIOUSLY accurate and reflects "Moms" religious standing.