Wednesday, October 29, 2008

hubby wifey



speaking of semantics, now that we are {legally} married, patty & i are having a hard time deciding what to call each other.  she calls me "wife" most of the time, but what to call her?  she doesn't really like to be called "wife," but then again, she prefers "husband," but it doesn't quite fit.  the origin of the word "husband" is from the old english & old norse "husbonda," literally meaning "house-holder."  so we could redefine the word to suit our needs.  however, if i refer to her as my "husband" when she's not around, folks usually assume i'm married to a man, which i'm not.  we both don't really love "partner," either, as it seems so, well, business like.  what about spouse?  that is gender-neutral, but awkward.  do we come up with our own words?  change the definition of the existing words?

gertrude and alice called each other "hubby" and "wifey," which i quite like. 

with all the talk of the word "marriage," and whether or not we deserve it, what do we call each other now that we have it?

first image by cecil beaton from "gertrude stein in words and pictures."
second image by carl mydans.

8 comments:

Butch Boo said...

Mmm

That's a difficult one. Congrats by the way.

How's about Husbian!!

BB

X

christina said...

@ butch boo: thank you! i love husbian!!! patty calls her pals "lesbros" so it's in the same vein...

BRAND: CREATIVE said...

Very thought provoking- I like husbian! When you have kids, you'll have to let me know how the naming goes then! Pave the way for me sister! xo

Anonymous said...

where did you get these awesome pictures of gertrude stein!? At any rate, I currently call Lauren my prubby, as in pre-hubby, but i wont be calling her husband once the deed is done. Around other people I will probably call her my wife. but maybe i will never be able to let go of "lady lover", for the small joy of watching people's reactions.

christina said...

@desaray: i love "lady lover"!! it's one of my favorites! patty is so NOT a lady, though...

cara said...

Lady Lover is brilliant! I like hubband, which is what I call my boy. 'husband' is so...stiff.

Congratulations on your marriage, I just found your blog through snippet and ink and I love it. Your photos are stunning and it looks like it was a really beautiful day.

cara said...

Oh, and he calls me his Whiff. Which is charming!

christina said...

@peonies: thank you. i love hubband & whiff...it made me smile!