"Fiance"?

[CanadianGirl]

Is it just me, or is the word "fiance" kind of ugly? Fiiiannceee. It's like Beyonce with an F. Makes me think of a really uncomfortable piece of formal furniture. "Husband" seems a little stuffy too, come to think of it. Do the guys out there have a problem with "fiancee" or "wife"? Heck, even "boyfriend"/"girlfriend" seem off-putting and silly to me. I use the accepted terms just for practicality's sake, or if I'm feeling ironic.

Whether or not you have this problem, just for fun, do you know of any good "fiance(e)", "husband"/"wife" alternatives?

For fiance, I like: pre-husband, shubby (soon-to-be hubby) and fancy (what I think fiance should sound like).

[CynicalQuixotic]

Unfortunately, an individual really has little to no control over language conventions, which is ironic considering how randomly they occur and rise and fall (or remain) in popular usage. I'm a linguistics student, so I find this stuff very interesting. It's definitely a study of how and not why.

Wife comes from the Old English word wif, which I think meant woman, which makes sense. Husband I'm not too sure of, or fiancé--and why would you want it to be pronounced "fancy"? That makes no sense phonetically.

EDIT: I looked up the etymologies of these words on Merriam Webster in case anyone is interested. I would've used the Oxford English Dictionary, but you have to be subscriber to use the online dictionary:

wife-->Old English wif, meant both woman and wife.
husband-->Old English husbonda, which meant "master of the house"
fiancé/e-->literally means "promised" or "betrothed", past participle of Old French verb "fiancer," which comes from Latin "fidere", to trust.
boyfriend/girlfriend-->unknown, seems to be an invented compound that came into use in the English language in the mid-19th century, first printed mention of boyfriend is in 1845, girlfriend a bit later in 1859.

[snow_girl]

I remember when I was in school and my Dad would bug me about having a boyfriend and my mom would always say 'no no she has a boy that is a friend!" I don't mind the sound of fiance, but never really gave it much thought.

[CanadianGirl]

@CynicalQuixotic ..the point is that it makes no sense lol. It seems more fun and less stuffy. Example "Hey guys, this is my fancy". Etymology can be fascinating, but that's no reason not to play with words.

[Haley53]

Biance with an F, hahahahaha.

This may be a bit formal, but I tend to use "Mister" as opposed to "husband." And I sometimes use "to-be" instead of "fiance." :P

EDIT -- I generally use "boyfriend," but oftentimes will use "mate" or "the boy." I used to use "boything," but that came off wrong to several people.

[CynicalQuixotic]

EDIT -- I generally use "boyfriend," but oftentimes will use "mate" or "the boy." I used to use "boything," but that came off wrong to several people.

Heh, "boything" does sound like a kind of cutesy sex toy.

In general, I don't mind the terms "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" until you get to two adults in a long term (like 5 years+) committed relationship who aren't married for whatever reason, then those terms just seem sort of twee and immature. I've noticed that the Brits have really embraced "partner," but I can't help but shake the nuance of stiffness that it has for me when I hear it. (I also always think of that scene in American Beauty when the gay couple knocks on Chris Cooper's character's door with a welcome basket, and one of them introduces himself, "Oh, I'm so-and-so, and this is my partner, such-and-such," and Chris Cooper goes, "Oh, what kind of business do you do?" ) Fiancé/e I think is very pretty, but I'm a pretty unabashed Francophile. Husband and wife I have no opinion on, they're purely functional words for me.

[nicole]

I don't really like the sound of fiance either.... but then it REALLY grinds on me when someone calls him my Boyfriend these days, we ARE engaged afterall... so really I can't win until he becomes my "wifey" lol

[Haley53]

Heh, "boything" does sound like a kind of cutesy sex toy.

In general, I don't mind the terms "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" until you get to two adults in a long term (like 5 years+) committed relationship who aren't married for whatever reason, then those terms just seem sort of twee and immature. I've noticed that the Brits have really embraced "partner," but I can't help but shake the nuance of stiffness that it has for me when I hear it. (I also always think of that scene in American Beauty when the gay couple knocks on Chris Cooper's character's door with a welcome basket, and one of them introduces himself, "Oh, I'm so-and-so, and this is my partner, such-and-such," and Chris Cooper goes, "Oh, what kind of business do you do?" ) Fiancé/e I think is very pretty, but I'm a pretty unabashed Francophile. Husband and wife I have no opinion on, they're purely functional words for me.

I love the term "partner." :P It's probably one of my most favourite words, but the example you gave does, in a way, paint the picture of people's reactions to it! A lot of people tend to find it too stiff/formal so I've taken to using the more conventional "boyfriend," though I still do love "partner."

And hahaha, I suppose "boything" does. xD

[Engel]

I actualy quite like the sound of Fiancee

[Madge]

and fancy (what I think fiance should sound like).

Love this!

I dislike using the term fiance as the word sounds like finance which is something I don't like to think about . Fiancee I like because it rolls of the tongue better.
0_o. Man I am weird.

Anywho, I don't really have any alternatives. I just wanted to post.

[CynicalQuixotic]

Love this!

I dislike using the term fiance as the word sounds like finance which is something I don't like to think about . Fiancee I like because it rolls of the tongue better.
0_o. Man I am weird.

Anywho, I don't really have any alternatives. I just wanted to post.

"Fiancé" and "fiancée" are pronounced exactly the same way, they're just the masculine and feminine forms.

[Rach321]

In general, I don't mind the terms "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" until you get to two adults in a long term (like 5 years+) committed relationship who aren't married for whatever reason, then those terms just seem sort of twee and immature. I've noticed that the Brits have really embraced "partner," but I can't help but shake the nuance of stiffness that it has for me when I hear it. (I also always think of that scene in American Beauty when the gay couple knocks on Chris Cooper's character's door with a welcome basket, and one of them introduces himself, "Oh, I'm so-and-so, and this is my partner, such-and-such," and Chris Cooper goes, "Oh, what kind of business do you do?" ) Fiancé/e I think is very pretty, but I'm a pretty unabashed Francophile. Husband and wife I have no opinion on, they're purely functional words for me.

We use "partner" now that we have a house together. It just makes sense in terms of the current status of our relationship. Also, we are classified as "domestic partners" by my workplace. He calls me "wife" in a teasing way -- I think it's his way of getting used to thinking of me that way -- and "mom" when he talks about me to the dog. :P

I like the word "fiance." It's very pretty to me.

[mllebamako]

I kind of use them all interchangeably. We have had a religious wedding ceremony but not a civil one. So religiously (his religion, not mine), he's my husband. According to the law, he's not. Often I use "fiancé" or "boyfriend", sometimes "husband" (depends who I'm talking to.
In my mind, he's my fiancé but I sometimes choose not to use that word because then I get questions about when the wedding is, etc. And for various reasons, our engagement has been/will be a long one.

[Minerva]

I am not fond of boyfriend/girlfriend, but will admit to feeling like a giddy teenager when we use those words. I like partner, but feel it's a bit too dry. Pretty much hate SO. Don't mind Fiance/ee, but not sure if we'll ever use those terms, so we're stuck with the pre-fiance/ee terms.

[NineInchNails_x]

I don't like the word boyfriend...
It seems right now me and my SO are in the stage in between getting engaged and being boyfriend/girlfriend if that makes sense. He feels like more than a boyfriend to me, our relationship feels more serious than that, but not quite at the engagement stage.
Usually I call him my man or my monkey instead lol :P