Do bear in mind that this chap has a just cause at heart.

I am 40 and my man (that is what I call him) is 54. I refuse to call him my boyfriend (I’m not a girl and he is not a boy). If I call him my partner, people can think we are business partners.

In German there is a word called life partner, which means that people are not married but intend to live with each other for ever. There is no such word in English and in Maltese its worse, is-sieheb tieghi).

In a country where there is no divorce and maybe if there is we might not choose to get married, what is the word that can be used and understood? I am talking about people that can use English properly and here I am not talking about people from mltastar. By the way “my man” also gives me blank stares.

[Daphne – The word you’re looking for is ‘companion’. To illustrate the point, Camilla Parker Bowles was the Prince of Wales’ mistress, then his companion, and now his wife. Only New Labour-type yuppie chavs say ‘partner’, and I don’t mean in Malta. ]

My use of the adjective ‘stereotypical’ was intentional and grammatically correct, if that is what you are questioning.

The lower case was an inadvertent typo for which I ask you to accept my apologies. Once we’re at it, I am ready to accept your apologies for your frequent rude and stereotypical use of the term “you people” when referring to those with opposing opinions. Fire away, Daph!

[Daphne – It’s neither rude nor stereotypical (I think you mean ‘stereotyping’ there). If there were any original thinking among the Labour-supporting comments that reach this blog, I wouldn’t have grounds to say ‘you people’. But there is no original thinking, because you all sound the same. Some of you can spell and others can’t – that’s the only difference.]

“Breath-taking” indeed.

@Katrin

A partner is just that …. a partner. She doesn’t have to be a shack-up honey or a legally wedded wife (can it be illegal anyway?!).

I know a few shack-up honeys who are also ‘legally wedded wives’. Should we maybe call them illegal shack-up honeys?

[Daphne – The point made earlier, that wives should not be called partners but wives, was a valid one. I had noticed, too, how some ridiculous people insist on referring to their wives as ‘my partner’, maybe because they don’t want to seem out of the loop as the only man around without a girlfriend. I never see wives referring to their husband as ‘my partner’. With women, it’s always ‘my husband’.]

Of course, politics is all about staged corny smiles, interest-showing face expressions and hand shakes. No wonder you’re, presumably, a gonzi supporter and an Alfred Sant hater.

[Daphne – Funny how you people always use lower case for gonzi but upper case for Sant and Muscat.]

Not very effective then, was it?

X’sar minnu?