Wife me up! More than just a partner

My latest on Catholicmom.com

Language evolves and changes. There is a recording of a college professor reciting Beowulf in the original old English. If you didn’t know the story, it would be hard to pick it up from the words he was reciting! It sounded like a completely different language and nothing like the English we are so used to today. It’s not ju st that the pronunciations have changed, but the actual meanings of the words are different as well. Of course, some words have disappeared altogether, while thousands of others have come into use.  

In recent years, many words relating to being feminine and female have started to change or be outright banned. It’s no longer acceptable in many places to use words like woman, mother, she/her, or breast-feeding. But the one that bothers me the most is loss of the word “wife,” which is being swapped out for “partner.”  

I recently complained about that on an Instagram reel and was promptly told that only boomers still use words like husband and wife, or even marriage. I guess ageism is culturally accepted.  

This year my husband, Pete, will have been married to me for 44 years. He has also had a business partner for 28 years. While I appreciate Pete’s partner, Jack, I see my role as wife as being much more all-encompassing than the word “partner” can describe.

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