Are Married Men "Husbands?" How About a New Term for a New Relationship?

[Minimalist]

A friend of mine who is male, gay, and married refers to his husband. I don't see the issue, but you may have a point.

They are not married. Marriage is between one man and a woman. Their piece of paper can say what it likes, it is not a marriage.

You are so 'last week' douchebag!

[Minimalist]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this. But...


I am a woman and (gee, Rhonda, we never would have guess. Thanks for the heads up) I don't like the word "husband. I can't help wondering if it has an etymological connection to the word "husbandry."

Think about it. Until relatively recently, women were considered the property of their husbands. A woman without a husband was like a cow without a cowboy. From its inception marriage has been about men doing the tasks of husbandry—caring for and managing their wives.
e are in a new era now. Isn't it kind of retro to enter this new epoch with a term that speaks of inequality in the relationship?

The word derives from Nordic.

[Rhondazvous]

The word derives from Nordic.

Which word or both of them?

[Minimalist]

late Old English (in the senses ‘male head of a household’ and ‘manager, steward’), from Old Norse húsbóndi ‘master of a house,’ from hús ‘house’ + bóndi ‘occupier and tiller of the soil.’ The original sense of the verb was ‘till, cultivate.’

Per Google.

[Iroscato]

Singular - spouse.
Plural - spice.

[Chad32]

Was "till and cultivate" a euphemism?

[Jackalope]

It is as of a few days ago, in USA. The Supreme Court has spoken.

The Supreme Court can proclaim itself to be an apple danish, up to be down and the sky to be lemon yellow. It does not make any of them so.

...except when it comes to matter of US Law, in which case you are quite mistaken.

[ignoramus]

"Master of the house"? Tell that to my wife!   He he
She'll laugh it off and then give me a list of chores to do...

[Cato]

Isn't it kind of retro to enter this new epoch with a term that speaks of inequality in the relationship?

You can't fucking be serious.

[bennyboy]

The etymology just makes husband a householder. "Wife" just means "female." So I don't really see any deep cause for offense here. Certainly, this stuff about husbands and husbandry showing women to be cattle to be bred by their male owners has nothing to do with the meaning of the words. I don't know much about Nordic or English gender suffixes, but I suppose a female householder could be a "huswif," or maybe even a husband, unless there is a female form for "band."