Denette Wilford
Aug 24, 2022
A feminist in New York recently married her longtime boyfriend but refuses to refer to him as her “husband” — so she found a new word.
It’s derived from the word “house” and “occupier” (or “tiller of the soil”) so essentially, she explains, it means “master” or “controller of the house” — not exactly in keeping with Fitzgerald’s brand.
Fitzgerald, who goes by @feminfitz on social media, also explained she isn’t a fan of the word “spouse” because it’s not a word she uses often, plus it “sounds generic.”
She added: “Partner is always great but it’s not always marriage-specific, and sometimes you have to make it clear just for legal reasons whether or not you’re married to someone.”
So with no other options left, she decided to seek her trusty Old English dictionary to find the proper label.
Fitzgerald unearthed that the male equivalent for “wife” isn’t “husband” but actually “wer” — as in “werewolf.”
“Like, a man and a wolf,” she says.
“So I guess I’ll be calling him my ‘wer’ from now on unless anybody else has any other better ideas.”
TikTok fans were divided between Fitzgerald being “unnecessarily extra” and sarcastically commenting that she “must be fun at parties,” to defending her word find.
Fitzgerald clarified that the point she was trying to make is that “there’s no widely-known term for ‘male spouse’ that doesn’t mean ‘controller.’”
However, one person commented what many people thought.
“It’s cool, but you mentioned you don’t use partner much as it sometimes requires elaboration,” he said. “Would this not always require elaboration?”
canoe.com
Aug 24, 2022
A feminist in New York recently married her longtime boyfriend but refuses to refer to him as her “husband” — so she found a new word.
It’s derived from the word “house” and “occupier” (or “tiller of the soil”) so essentially, she explains, it means “master” or “controller of the house” — not exactly in keeping with Fitzgerald’s brand.
Fitzgerald, who goes by @feminfitz on social media, also explained she isn’t a fan of the word “spouse” because it’s not a word she uses often, plus it “sounds generic.”
She added: “Partner is always great but it’s not always marriage-specific, and sometimes you have to make it clear just for legal reasons whether or not you’re married to someone.”
So with no other options left, she decided to seek her trusty Old English dictionary to find the proper label.
Fitzgerald unearthed that the male equivalent for “wife” isn’t “husband” but actually “wer” — as in “werewolf.”
“Like, a man and a wolf,” she says.
“So I guess I’ll be calling him my ‘wer’ from now on unless anybody else has any other better ideas.”
TikTok fans were divided between Fitzgerald being “unnecessarily extra” and sarcastically commenting that she “must be fun at parties,” to defending her word find.
Fitzgerald clarified that the point she was trying to make is that “there’s no widely-known term for ‘male spouse’ that doesn’t mean ‘controller.’”
However, one person commented what many people thought.
“It’s cool, but you mentioned you don’t use partner much as it sometimes requires elaboration,” he said. “Would this not always require elaboration?”
Feminist refers to spouse as ‘wer’ because she doesn’t like ‘husband’
A feminist in New York recently married her longtime boyfriend but refuses to refer to him as her “husband” – so she found a new word.
canoe.com
