Tracie at Jezebel wonders if there’s a better word for fiancé.
I never knew how much I hated the word “fiancé” until I got engaged. I kind of cringe when I have to say it to people I don’t really know and lately, I’ve been finding myself saying “my boyfriend,” then quickly, quietly adding “or fiancé, whatever.” The word just sounds so pretentious…and it inherently implies a kind of smugness about marriage that I find embarrassing.
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Sadie has the same problem. “I say ‘boyfriend’ and then people check my hand to see if we’ve called it off.” Anna, who got married this past summer said, “I would either say ‘boyfriend’ or i would say ‘fiancé’ but I would preemptively explain how much I hated the word. There was always a warning before it came out of my mouth.”
Sadie suggests that we “just go totally archaic with ‘liege,'” but that still sounds weird. We tried to come up with some other options like “pre-wed” or “GIM” (as in “guy I’m marrying”), but neither of those seem very viable.
Suggestions?