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Relationships (Outline)
Types Genetic or adoptive Kinship Family Stepfamily Parent Father Mother Son Daughter Grandparent Sibling Brother Sister Cousin Aunt Uncle Niece and nephew By marriage Spouse Husband Wife Open marriage Polygamy Polyandry Polygyny Group marriage Mixed-orientation Partner(s) Significant other Boyfriend Girlfriend Cohabitation Long-distance Online Same-sex Queerplatonic Friendship (romantic / cross-sex / zone) Intimate and sexual Casual Monogamy Non-monogamy Mutual monogamy Polyamory Polyfidelity Affair Cicisbeo Concubinage Courtesan Mistress
Activities Bonding Courtship Dating Engagement Bachelor's Day Mating Meet market Romance Singles event Wedding
Endings Breakup Legal/marital separation Annulment Divorce Widowhood
Emotions and feelings Affinity Attachment Intimacy Jealousy Limerence Love Platonic Unconditional Passion Sexuality
Practices Bride price dower dowry service Hypergamy Infidelity Sexual activity Transgression Repression
Abuse Child Dating Domestic Elderly Narcissistic parent Controlling behavior Stalking
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A girlfriend is term for a female partner one is romantically or sexually involved with. It can also refer to a female friend.

This term is often used loosely, and there is some debate over what exactly constitutes a girlfriend.

Scope

Partners in committed non-marital relationships are also sometimes described as a significant other or simply partner, especially if the individuals are cohabiting.

Girlfriend and partner mean different things to different people; the distinctions between the terms are subjective. How the term is used will ultimately be determined by personal preference.

A 2005 study of 115 people ages 21 to 35 who were either living with or had lived with a romantic partner notes that the lack of proper terms often leads to awkward situations, such as someone upset over not being introduced in social situations to avoid the question..

In a strictly grammatical sense, a "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" is an individual with whom one shares a romantic relationship. A "girl friend" or "boy friend", however, is simply a friend identified on the basis of sex. This is sometimes also contravened by simply stating "ladyfriend" or "guyfriend". The terms "friend girl" (and "friend boy") are also sometimes used to indicate a platonic friendship. The transition between the two is a significant aspect of adolescent development.

Both forms of "girlfriend" and "girl friend" are used by different people to mean different things. For example, when the term "girlfriend" is used by a girl or woman about another female in a non-sexual, non-romantic context, the two-word form "girl friend" is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the sexual or romantic meaning; however, this is not a rule. In this sense of its usage, "girlfriend" is used in terms of very close friends and has no sexual connotations, unless it is in the case of lesbian, bisexual, or pansexual women. The term "girlfriend" is also used in LGBT communities and can refer to people of any sex or sexuality.

The term "girlfriend" does not necessarily imply a sexual relationship, but is often used to refer to a girl or woman who is dating a person she is not engaged to without indicating whether she is having sex with him or her. With differing expectations of sexual mores, the term dating can imply romantic activity whereas simply using "friend" would likely avoid implying such intimacy. It is essentially equivalent to the term "sweetheart", which has also been used as a term of endearment.

Word history

The word girlfriend was first used in 1863 as "a woman's female friend in youth.” In 1922, the word girlfriend was used to mean a man’s sweetheart.

Dating entered the American language during the Roaring Twenties. Prior to that, courtship was a matter of family and community interest. Starting around the time of the Civil War, courtship became a private matter for couples.

Related terms

• A female engaged in an extramarital relationship with a married man is frequently considered a "mistress". The word mistress was originally used as a neutral counterpart for the word mister or master.
• The word madam is still a respectful form of address, but has had sexual connotations since the early 1700s and has been used to refer to the owner of a brothel since the early 1900s.
• Some terms of endearment directed to females, a romantic relationship not required, are "darling", "sweetheart", "love", "babe", "babycakes" etc.
• Users of Internet slang and SMS slang often shorten girlfriend to the initialism gf.
• Additionally, gender-indiscriminate terms also apply (e.g., lover, heartthrob, paramour, squeeze, sweetheart, true love, wooer, date, escort, steady, admirer, or companion).

Distinction from "lady friend"

A similar, but not equivalent, concept is the more ambiguous "lady friend" – a companion of the female gender who is possibly less than a girlfriend but potentially more than a friend. That is to say, the relationship is not necessarily platonic, nor is it necessarily an exclusive, serious, committed, or long-term relationship. The term avoids the overt sexual implications that come with referring to a woman as someone's "mistress" or "lover". In that sense, it can often be a euphemism. The term can also sometimes be employed when someone simply does not know the exact status of a woman that a man has been associating with. For instance, tabloid headlines often note that a celebrity has been seen with a new "lady friend". "Lady friend" may also be used to signify a romantic relationship with an older woman, when the term "girl" as in "girlfriend" may be deemed age-inappropriate.

The New York Times style guide discourages the use of the term "girlfriend" for an adult romantic partner, stating, "Companion is a suitable term for an unmarried partner of the same or the opposite sex." The Times received some criticism for referring to Shaha Riza as the "girlfriend" of World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz in one article about the controversy over their relationship. Other news articles in the Times had generally referred to her as Wolfowitz's "companion".

See also

• Boyfriend
• Courtship
• Domestic partnership
• Engagement
• Marriage
• Wedding

References

1. The Free Dictionary By Farlex. "Girlfriend". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
2. Thesaurus.com. "Significant other". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
3. StackExchange. "English Language & Usage". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
4. Sam. "Why I say 'partner" instead of boyfriend or girlfriend". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
5. Jayson, Sharon. "Adults stumble over what to call their romantic partners". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
6. Grover, R. L.; Nangle, D. W.; Serwik, A.; Zeff, K. R. (2007). "Girl friend, boy friend, girlfriend, boyfriend: Broadening our understanding of heterosocial competence". Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. 36 (4): 491–502. doi:10.1080/15374410701651637. PMID 18088208.
7. Byrd, Rudolph P. (2001). "Traps: African American Men on Sex and Sexuality". Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-21448-3. Retrieved 2008-01-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
8. Salamensky, Shelley I. (2001). "Talk Talk Talk: The Cultural Life of Everyday Conversation". Routledge, ISBN 0-415-92170-8. Retrieved 2008-01-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
9. The Free Dictionary By Farlex. "Sweetheart". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
10. Harper, Douglas. "Girlfriend". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
11. Hirsch, Elaine. "The History of Dating and Communication". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
12. The Free Dictionary By Farlex. "Mistress". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
13. The Free Dictionary By Farlex. "Mistress". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
14. The Free Dictionary By Farlex. "Mistress". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
15. Simpson, J.A. "Terms of Endearment". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
16. What does gf stand for?, AcronymFinder.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-30.
17. Tickle Thy Thoughts. "Long List of Various Terms of Endearment". Retrieved 6 May 2012.
18. Connor, Tracy (2007-11-06). "Sir Paul McCartney photographed with married Hamptons lady friend". Daily News. New York.
19. http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=lady%20friend
20. ^ Ben Yagoda (April 20, 2007). "What to call Paul Wolfowitz's special lady friend". Slate.

Bibliography

• Sociocultural Perspectives on Language Change in Diaspora David R. Andrews (1998); John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 90-272-1835-8.
• The Handbook of Language and Gender By Janet Holmes, Miriam Meyerhoff (2003); Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0-631-22502-1.
• In Your Face: Stories from the Lives of Queer Youth Mary L. Gray (1999); Haworth Press, ISBN 0-7890-0076-8.
• Defining Language: A Local Grammar of Definition Sentences Geoff Barnbrook (2002); John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 1-58811-298-5.
• How Not To Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms R. W. Holder (2002); Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860402-5.

• Intimate relationships