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I was in a relationship with my partner for 11 years before we got married. "Girlfriend" doesn't really do it justice.

by user24 14y ago

gadders 14y ago
"LOVER"
tomrod 14y ago
Interesting. Many places, being together that long is known as a common-law marriage.
- alsothings 14y ago
  sure, but I've never know someone, when introducing their spouse, to say 'this is my common-law [husband|wife]'. Among other problems, it's quite awkward.
- DanBC 14y ago
  England has no such thing as common law marriage. It's a persistent myth. When one partner dies or leaves the other is left with very few rights.
  - SEMW 14y ago
    It does in some areas though. E.g. you have provisions like this one from the housing act, talking about when tenancies can be automatically transferred, on the death of one spouse, to the other one: "a person who was living with the tenant as his or her wife or husband shall be treated as the tenant’s spouse, and a person who was living with the tenant as if they were civil partners shall be treated as the tenant's civil partner" (s. 17(4) Housing Act 1988 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/part/I/chapter/I/crossheading/miscellaneous?view=plain http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/part/I/chapter/I... ) (Interestingly, an identical provision in another act - but with only the wife/husband language, as this was before civil partnerships - was used by the courts to give a similar benefit to a surviving member of a gay couple, using the non-discrimination provisions of the Human Rights Act to interpret the provision broadly to include gay couples living as partners (Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza)).
    - DanBC 14y ago
      yes, there are little bits n bobs. http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/your_family/family/living_together_and_marriage_legal_differences.htm http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/your_family/family/liv...
- Lost_BiomedE 14y ago
  and some places have the requirement of length of time and publicly stating that you are man and wife. This causes some to be very careful of saying wife for the sake of brevity. Girlfriend doesn't distinguish between a year and 5+ years, so many people will default to partner, better half, or significant other.

I was in a relationship with my partner for 11 years before we got married. "Girlfriend" doesn't really do it justice.

by user24 14y ago

I was in a relationship with my partner for 11 years before we got married. "Girlfriend" doesn't really do it justice.

gadders 14y ago

"LOVER"

tomrod 14y ago

Interesting. Many places, being together that long is known as a common-law marriage.

alsothings 14y ago
sure, but I've never know someone, when introducing their spouse, to say 'this is my common-law [husband|wife]'. Among other problems, it's quite awkward.
DanBC 14y ago
England has no such thing as common law marriage. It's a persistent myth. When one partner dies or leaves the other is left with very few rights.
- SEMW 14y ago
  It does in some areas though. E.g. you have provisions like this one from the housing act, talking about when tenancies can be automatically transferred, on the death of one spouse, to the other one: "a person who was living with the tenant as his or her wife or husband shall be treated as the tenant’s spouse, and a person who was living with the tenant as if they were civil partners shall be treated as the tenant's civil partner" (s. 17(4) Housing Act 1988 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/part/I/chapter/I/crossheading/miscellaneous?view=plain http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/part/I/chapter/I... ) (Interestingly, an identical provision in another act - but with only the wife/husband language, as this was before civil partnerships - was used by the courts to give a similar benefit to a surviving member of a gay couple, using the non-discrimination provisions of the Human Rights Act to interpret the provision broadly to include gay couples living as partners (Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza)).
  - DanBC 14y ago
    yes, there are little bits n bobs. http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/your_family/family/living_together_and_marriage_legal_differences.htm http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/your_family/family/liv...
Lost_BiomedE 14y ago
and some places have the requirement of length of time and publicly stating that you are man and wife. This causes some to be very careful of saying wife for the sake of brevity. Girlfriend doesn't distinguish between a year and 5+ years, so many people will default to partner, better half, or significant other.