Do you think the word "boyfriend" shouldn't be used in case of relationship between adults?

More or less, yes. Our conventional vocabulary around romantic relationships is lacking and indicative some of the failings of our culture.

I think “boyfriend” goes along with the general lack of proper rights of passage, and our society’s general failure to actually create full adults, or to relate to our adult men and women as full adults. Particularly in the USA, grown people are treated as subservient children rather than adults, in at least as many ways as not, and I think the language of boyfriend/girlfriend, and to spread shame and disrespect through metaphors of unready youth, and I think the “dating” conventions and their vocabulary are part of that. It’s full of poor terms for things, and poor ideas about relating to those we love and are intimate with.

What would you replace it with?
And how would you force people to adopt the replacement terms?
As much as I like the term “Fuckbuddy”, I do not see it replacing the already established terminology.

^Please read the article first..)

I always thought it was strange too that we call our significant others the same names we call kids. Do I agree with the reasoning? Most of it. Some words, like boyfriend, evolved enough for us to accept it for what it means now.
I’m trying to think of another example of a word that meant something different in the past than what it means now…

The problem lies with finding a convenient term to replace boyfriend. Manfriend doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

Maybe we should figure out what the Mens/boys room means before we tackle more subtle labels.

Perfectly acceptable between adults. If someone wants to get so darn persnickety about terms, they can define exactly what boyfriend/girlfriend means in the ways of sex and how many players might be allowed in a relationship. (A boyfriend/girlfriend is a significant other you may have sex with, but only that one person. Nobody has sex with a “friend,” or shouldn’t because it screws up the definition!)

I think it is actually a good term for non-cohabiting couples, no matter what the age.

My girlfriend’s daughter heard her mom call me her “man” one time, and has referred to me as that for the last two years. I find it very annoying.

I actually prefer being called by my name.

@stanleybmanly Yes. The article discusses what words could be used, and suggests “My Man/Person/Human.” I like “partner” for people I’m sharing my life with, though the article’s author thinks it sounds antiseptic (it doesn’t to me). I’ve used “friend” before to people I was introducing her to, but my woman thought that was an awful understatement, which I guess makes sense.

FWIW, Italians use amico/a (male/female friend) both for romantic and nonromantic friends without a juvenile connotation, amante (lover), and fidanzo/a (fiance, both for betrothed and for unbetrothed current steady).

I think it should be up to the individuals to decide what term they want to be referred to by. Personally, for myself, I prefer the term “fuckpuppet”.

I read the article. Seems awfully silly to be worked up about it.

The author makes some decent points, but so what? She’s not going to change the speaking habits of 250 million people in the US.

There are many more important things to get worked up about.