Especially since “woman friend” and “lady friend” specifically mean “friend who is a female, no romantic entanglement” or “I’m specifically NOT using the word girlfriend here.”
Which does expose kind of a scar on the language; the terms we have for unmarried romantic partners are inherently juvenile, which puts 50 year olds who are dating in the awkward position of calling each other boy and/or girl. Or you get to spit out all ten chapters of the phrase “significant other.”
Especially since “woman friend” and “lady friend” specifically mean “friend who is a female, no romantic entanglement” or “I’m specifically NOT using the word girlfriend here.”
Which does expose kind of a scar on the language; the terms we have for unmarried romantic partners are inherently juvenile, which puts 50 year olds who are dating in the awkward position of calling each other boy and/or girl. Or you get to spit out all ten chapters of the phrase “significant other.”
Easy solution:
“Hi, have you met Elaine? We fuck.”