From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!npois!houxm!houxa!houxi!houxz!ihnp4!iheds!otto Newsgroups: net.nlang Title: An alternative to posslq Article-I.D.: iheds.210 Posted: Sat Feb 19 10:21:31 1983 Received: Sun Feb 20 06:27:08 1983 Reply-To: otto@iheds.UUCP (George V.E. Otto) Some years ago there was an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer discussing the problem of finding a general word to mean "the person I am living with," but one that didn't already suffer from negative connotations. The author concluded that what was needed was a new word. I don't recall if he mentioned "posslq," but if so, he rejected it for some reason. The word he proposed was "menagist" (meh-nah-'zhist), from the french word "menage" meaning household. Thus a menagist is "someone who shares my household." It may superficially say the same thing as "shackee," but it is free of that word's connotations. Not only is it a new word, but is it one most people are somewhat familiar with from the phrase "menage-a-trois." This word is even more general than posslq, because it is not restricted to hetero-sexual relationships. The author concluded by saying that he thought this was a good new word, but he wondered whether anyone would use it. Any comments? George Otto Bell Labs, Indian Hill ----------------------