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Does anyone else ever feel silly calling their SO a boyfriend? Call me crazy, but I just feel too old for that - he's 29 and I'm 25. So, taking a nod from Sex and the City the Movie... I have elected to call him my Manfriend lol 
Seriously though, am I the only one who feels strange saying that?
I don't think you're too old for Boyfriend! But you can call him whatever you want.
I've felt this way sometimes - just because "boyfriend" didn't seem to fully describe what we were. So I started calling him my "other." I'd still introduce him as my boyfriend, but after someone knew him, I'd just call him my other. It fit. Now he's my fiance, and I still call him my "other." With certain friends, I just call him "mine." :)
i hated the word boyfriend too :) it felt juvenile. and Fiance wasn't all that great, it felt pretentious. husband is the best!!
When I got engaged a friend said, "Congrats to you and your Manpanion". I thought that was a creative title ;-)
Gee. It's even worse when you get to your 40s. One friend refers to hers as GID (guy I'm dating).
Before I was engaged I hated using the term boyfriend - I didn't feel like it represented the significance of our relationship - so I often called him my significant other or my guy and then referred to him as his name only after the individual new his relationship to me!
So glad I can now call him my fiance!!!!
i thought it was just me!! i just introduce him as m. lmbo!!! i told him a few weeks ago that i felt like a teenager being nearly 30 and having a boyfriend.
I don't feel too old to have a boyfriend, but I just feel like it doesn't even get close to what we are. BOYFRIEND? SERIOUSLY? Not at all. He is so much more than that to me.
When I was younger, I took to calling the older-halves of my friends "manboyperson". Boyfriend didn't sound right, manfriend sounded silly, and well, he was a person.
Boyfriend does sound pretty young, but I don't call him my manboyperson. Sure, he's a man. Sure, he's a boy. Sure we're 24 and people think we're 17, at most. But manboyperson doesn't seem to fit. I tend to refer to him as bf on the internets.
These days I've taken to calling S.O.s "Schmoodleboo"s. It's just silly enough to work.
I think my issue with boyfriend mostly comes from people making assumptions about our status. Now that I think about it, it's no one else's business what our status is, so perhaps I will just introduce him as {name}. No titles, no etc.
I met his coworker and his wife at their daughter's wedding. BF points out to me after the fact that the wife had fixed "my better half" with "MUCH better half!", and how he found her modifier a bit snooty and uncalled for. Otherwise, "better half" works as well.
Yes - I totally felt silly about it, and he was 39 when we started dating. I did refer to him as my boyfriend a couple of times, but mostly just by his name (I let people figure the rest out).
I just call him my SO. Sometimes we say boyfriend/girlfriend but most of the time people accidentally think we're already married.
And folks, 40 ain't that bad. ;)
Take it from a girl who just got there in spring!
I have a friend that is in her 40s and her BF is in his 50s. She calls him her Beau.
I'm 31 and FI is 38 - I called him my boyfriend. It didn't seem quite right, but it worked.
Glad I'm not the only one... but you're all right, boyfriend sounds like the boy I hold hands with on the bus to a Varsity game. We have a mortgage, a joint account, responsibilities... but more than that, a connection that goes way beyond boyfriend/girlfriend. We truly are soulmates, I would just feel ridiculous introducing him as my soulmate lol. I just wish there was a title that signified your commitment to each other and the seriousness of it before you get to fiance or husband. Thanks for the chat, girls.... thought I was just being silly.
WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!? You think 25 and 29 is old!
I don't think I ever thought boyfriend was childish.
I've been looking for another way to refer to my 'boyfriend' too. (I'm 26, he's 30)
In more formal situations, I'll say 'partner', but that sounds pretentious for everyday use. I'm trying to remember to say 'bloke' or 'fella' (accepted terms for a male partner in the north of England - can replace 'boyfriend' 'fiance' or 'husband') but unfortunately, my demeanor isn't quite as 'northern' as it should be so those terms sound out of place coming from me!
He does sort of fit the 'boyfriend' description - in that we're not married, engaged or living together, but I sort of feel that the time factor and the fact that we discuss a future together should afford our status some sort of respect.
lmao!! i'm in the south i can just see me saying, this is my lover, m.. oh that is so something i could do.. he'd probably pass out.
oh me too!!! I hated calling him boyfriend, esp. after having been dating and living together for like 5 years. Even though we weren't married yet, it pretty much felt like we were. And having to call him the same thing that I called the first boy I ever kissed in 7th grade - boyfriend. Just seems so wrong! LOL! SO glad to be able to say fiance now instead.
A friend of ours described me as "Uncle C's Ladyfriend," I think I like that better. 
To be honest, it's only weird when I'm using the word in respect to my dad lol. I don't think that has so much to do with age as it does with the fact that he's my dad, eew. (Yes I am five years old sometimes)
I hated the term "boyfriend"! On things like "In Case of Emergency" forms I often referred to Potato Head as my "partner" instead. But I agree—someone needs to think of a better term and inform Merriam Webster!
I like 'partner' too. The words 'significant other' don't really flow off the tongue, do they? And manfriend sounds less grown up to me than boyfriend, for some reason.
I totally hear you. Boyfriend somehow has a young/fickle connotation to it. I like "partner" and "significant other", probably "partner" more for like introductions. I agree that "manfriend" sounds sort of young, too. Almost sounds like you're less committed, like he's an eff-buddy or something.
Oh no, I agree Manfriend is silly - I only use that term on here as hs nickname and we call each other manfriend/ladyfriend in a joking way. I don't personally care for SO or partner, although I do like just 'other' that someone mentioned in an earlier post. I just don't think there's any good way around it until fiance/husband (which *fingers crossed* will be sooner than late)
I was just talking about this the other day with BF. It's hard to convey how serious the relationship is... as in, this is my "boyfriend-but-we're-really-more-than-that-and-I-promise-we're-going-to-be-engaged-soon-and-then-we're-getting-MARRIED!" I've found it really difficult in my job search for after graduation- somehow, saying that I'm staying in the area because my "boyfriend" is in school here doesn't quite cut it.
Before my grandma remarried (She was 88 and he was 85) she called him her "soulmate". I thought it was adorable!
@mignonne.. I'm in that same situation right now. When people ask why I am looking for jobs in a certain city and I say because my boyfriend lives there, I usually get an eye roll or a "thats so cute but won't workout" look.
I also feel like "boyfriend" just doesn't begin to describe our relationship -- we are not on the same level as my 17-year-old cousin dating some kid she met in math class and shouldn't have the same title!!
*sigh*... but... really, to be honest, I think the reason I don't like it is actually because I am just itching to call him my FIANCE!! Haha, come on ladies, let's get real... is this not true for anyone else?!
I also hate the term boyfriend. My friends thought I was weird to say that, but oh,well. My 19yr old cousin has a boyfriend. Me, a 28yr old woman, has a significant other.
LOL
@msmama: i know right! but significant other seems so strange as well. btw i hate the phrase "old man" i don't have an old man, i'd rather have a boyfriend.
I hate saying boyfriend....not sure I want to say "finace" either, but boyfriend makes me feel like a 29yr old trying to be 19 again.
I like "My Man." He is most definitely not a boy, thank God! 
But you're right, there could be more accurate terminology.
Yes I feel the same way. I am to old for a "boyfriend" (I'm 28 he is 33). In my opinion, and we've been together so long it just has a childish feel . I use though for lack of a better term, and I hate using it he needs to uprgade to fiance' pronto lol.
@bliss: lmao on upgrade!! first thing that popped into my head was beyonce's upgrade you song :D I should tell M I need to upgrade him.. LMAO!!
I hate using "boyfriend"! Partially because it makes me feel like I'm in junior high, but mostly because I feel like people don't respect the relationship. When I was in the hospital earlier this year, we had to tell them we were engaged, because "boyfriend" wasn't good enough for him to be allowed to stay with me. It's just a word, people! Frustrating.
I didn't like boyfriend either, on all my emergency contact forms, I have him listed as partner or significant other. Can't wait till I can call him husband! 20 more days!
Before getting engaged, I didn't like calling FI my boyfriend, becuase like many others, I felt it didn't address the signficance of our relationship. I usually called him my partner - becuase we really were partners, in love, life, everything!
I've had the worst time calling my FI "my Fiance" anywhere other than on the boards! Haha so I took an above suggestion & tried calling him my "manpanion". He wasn't having any of it. lol
I always had trouble calling him my BF, especially since he's 12 years older than me. Eeek. It never felt right.
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