"Partner"

So today one of my co-workers tells me about his doctor appointment yesterday. It was with a new doctor, and he was giving the doc all the information he needed and telling him a few things about himself. He began speaking about his work and was telling the doc the story of how he has been working at his job for the past 17 years with a guy he has known for over 30. He referred to this guy as my partner. So the doctor stops him and asks about his sex life.

Oops!

Apparently my partner has become such a common way for we gay people to refer to our significant other that it has lost its original intent as a business relationship. So my poor co-worker had to go about defending his heterosexuality before his new doctor! (I can so picture Married With Children's Al Bundy in this situation!)

Anyway, after relating his adventure, my co-worker tells me "this is all your fault - messing with the language!"

My reply? "Gay people wouldn't have to give new meanings to words if straight people would just let us marry. Until then, we're going to screw with you. You brought this on yourselves."

Now don't be misled that any of this was a serious conversation. All of what he said to me was completely in jest. The smile on his face as he said it and his howls of laughter at my reply were testament to that.