When did it start to become uncomfortable for some people to describe themselves as married, a wife, a husband. Settle for the word partner instead?
I first noticed this when looking for information about a New Labour MP – her website described her as living with her partner, other sources talked about her husband or who she was married to. Then I started noticing it in other places, about other people too
Is it some kind of desire to seem not to be boasting, to want to seem to accept & to say “All partnerships are equal, civil, cohabiting, whatever. No, really, some partnerships are not more equal than others”
The problem is that not all partnerships are like that, you know.
It can be confusing, potentially embarrassing, even when not up against someone as crass as Cherie Blair was to Princess Margaret
If a couple who are in business together call themselves partners, are you supposed to put them up in the same bedroom if they come to stay? Is it all right to ask them what partnership means?
Doctors, accountants, solicitors, all kinds of businesses, have partners.
And the John Lewis Partnership must be a far more interesting place to work than its principles & reputation imply
