Editing of this article by new or unregistered users is currently disabled. See the protection policy and protection log for more details. If you cannot edit this article and you wish to make a change, you can submit an edit request, discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or create an account. |
A girlfriend is a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship, usually considered more than an ordinary friend, especially in a romantic sense.
Scope
The term is most commonly used to describe a girl or a young woman. An older woman in such a non-marital relationship is sometimes described instead as a significant other or partner, especially if the two partners are living together. At times, since "girlfriend" and "partner" mean different things to different people, the distinctions between the terms are subjective, and which term is used in a relationship will ultimately be determined by personal preference.
When used by a girl or woman in a non-sexual, non-romantic context, the term "girlfriend" can occasionally be used to denote a close female friend. Sometimes, the phrase "girl friend" (with a space) is used to avoid confusion with the romantic meaning.
Word history
The word itself is relatively new, first found in print in 1892 according to the Online Etymology Dictionary.[1]
Synonyms
- Depending on the current informal speech styles in a given time and place, terms such as "[old] lady", "girl", and "chick" may be used in the same sense as "girlfriend". Frequently, these are preceded by a possessive pronoun or otherwise contextually marked for clarification, as such terms are more generic ways of referring to females and alone do not indicate a relationship of any sort.[2]
- A female engaged in an extramarital relationship with a married person is frequently considered a "girlfriend", especially in contrast to the married person's spouse.
- Additionally, general terms for such a companion (which do not indicate any sex or gender) can be substituted: "darling", "sweetheart", "lover", etc.
- Users of internet slang often shorten girlfriend to the acronym gf.[3]
In Popular Culture
- In the film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Ilia is Willard Decker's girlfriend
- In Family Guy, Neil Goldman considers Meg Griffin his girlfriend.
- The UPN/CW show Girlfriends is based on the relationship of a group of women who consider themselves girlfriends.
- Superman's Lois Lane is a well-known girlfriend character.
- In Star Wars Episode 2 Anakin's step-brother Owen introduces Beru as "my girlfriend".
- There is a so-called Magical girlfriend archetype associated with romantic comedy anime.
- Mona might be Max Payne's girlfriend, but it is unclear whether she is real or part of an imaginary construct he has created.
- Rosemary (or Rose for short) is Raiden's girlfriend and a data analyst for the United States Army in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
- In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, it is possible to have several girlfriends. It is debatable whether the simple reward/punishment system of dating protrayed in the game is an accurate representation of the dating dynamic.
- Doctor Girlfriend is a character on the TV show The Venture Brothers.
- In the television program Seinfeld, the character Jerry typically as a new girlfriend every episode.
- In the zombie-themed romantic comedy Shaun of the Dead, the story focuses on Shaun reconciling with his girlfriend in the setting of a apocalyptic zombie attack.
- In the television program American Dad, the character Steve Smith has never had a girlfriend.
- In the film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Andy Stitzer had several girlfriends over his lifetime. He, however, did not have any sexual intercourse until meeting Trish Piedmont.
- In Harry Potter, Harry Potter has a girlfriend.
See also
 Look up girlfriend in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |