Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: come si dice "ragazza, morosa" in età adulta?

Ciao a tutti gli esperti!
Tra qualche settimana andrò in ferie negli Usa con la mia attuale 
compagna..io 36 anni, lei 43..
Mi chiedevo: come posso tradurre in un inglese "colloquiale" (e non)  il 
nostro status?
Non mi sembra il caso usare boyfriend/girlfriend per l'età, "fiancee" mi dà 
idea di aulico, "partner" mi fa schifo usato in italiano, sembra sinonimo di 
"compagna sessuale" nei libri  di serie B...
Tra le altre cose dovrò usare questa parola anche al controllo doganale, 
dato che lei non sa una parola di inglese e dovrò dire chi è!
Grazie per la dritta,
Luca 

 sinonimo di "compagna sessuale" nei libri  di serie B...
Io userei partner. Sei vuoi qualcosa che ti da
schifo puoi usare "significant other"!
Antonio

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In inglese, 'boyfriend/girlfriend' si può usarli, anche per anziani. Dire 
'partner' significa un rapporto serio. Dire 'companion' cade più o meno tra 
'boy/girlfriend' e 'partner' ma non ha necessariamente il significato 
sessuale. 'Significant other' è formale e quasi legale. Ma, 'morosa', non 
significa 'sweetheart?' Perchè non dici 'sweetheart?' 

 Perchè non dici 'sweetheart?'
Sweetheart sounds a bit ironic for anyone out of their early 20s.
You wouldn't say "This is my sweetheart, Maria" if you were simply
introducing your partner. Similarly boyfriend/girlfriend is usually
inappropriate after about 30. It sounds coy.
But even native speakers have trouble with these words, since
social mores have changed and relationships are not as well-defined
as they used to be. "Partner" is probably the safest.
R.
Brisbane, Aus.

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"Partner" ha un senso sessuale, spesso omosessuale.
"Fiancée" va bene, se state veramente per sposarvi.
"Sweetheart" non va bene.
"Significant other" si usa con ironia o umore.
"Old lady" é comune fra quelli tipi degli anni sessanta che fumano
marijuana, portano la barba e i capelli lunghi, e portano le camiciette
"tie-dyed" (tinte annodate).  :>)
"Boyfriend/girlfriend" é comune in situazioni informali fra la gente che
conosco, di qualsiasi etá.
Conosco molte coppie che si presentano con "this is my boyfriend
(girlfriend) John (Mary).
Alla dogana non direi mai "She is my girlfriend". Si potrebbe dire "fiancée"
per essere discreto, o, se devi essere onesto, "travelling companion", ma
non capisco perché chiederebbero.
Prima di sposarmi, quando viaggiavo con la mia fidanzata qui negli USA o nel
Canada, o registrando in albergo (Waldorf Astoria a New York, Motel 6 nella
California) o attraversando la frontiera, nessuno non ha mai chiesto di noi
se fossimo fratello e sorella, padre e figlia, amico e amica, fidanzato e
fidanzata, o marito e moglie. I documenti dicono tutto, ma non é quasi mai
necessario mostrare i documenti. In albergo, io firmavo, mostravo la patente
e la carta di credito, pagavo la camera per due, e basta. Non era necessario
che tutti e due mostrassero i documenti, ma se rimanete in un posto molto te
mpo, e volete ricevere telefonate e posta, forse é meglio che tutti e due
firmino.
When you make a hotel reservation, the only thing they want to know is how
many people for how many nights.
When I stay at a hotel near Times Square in New York, I always park my car
on the street to save the extravagant hotel parking fees. I drop my wife off
with the bags at the hotel, and while she is registering, I drive uptown to
find a parking space. By the time I get back an hour later, she is in the
room with the bags.
My sister has five children, and when the children were young, and she was
travelling with two or three of them, she would make a reservation for a
single room, and when she arrived at the hotel, she would register and go to
her room. Then she would go back outside to retrieve the children and sneak
them into the room. In large hotels, no one notices.
Joe from Massachusetts

 Brisbane, Aus.
Our parret is coming the the U.S., not Australia. In the U.S.,
boyfriend/girlfriend are used well after the age of 30. And, although I only
asked about 'sweetheart' because parret used the example of 'morosa', that
term would more likely be used by older americans, and seldom by anyone in
their early 20s.
Still, you are right that there will be many different opinions, even among
Americans, about what would be an appropriate choice. In addition, the
personal and situational context would influence the choice, and that choice
would be very different in different areas of the U.S. Ultimately, you can
call your traveling companion just about anything if you say it with a smile
and a glint. (And this is my  mouseketeer, Annette.) I would use girl,
unless the girl is one of those girls who doesn't like being called a girl.
PS: Don't use 'comrade'.

 inappropriate after about 30. It sounds coy.
I live in Califronia and over here we use girlfriend/boyfriend at any
age.  One of my friends' father is a 70+ yo widower and he's got a
"girlfriend".  I want to make a comment about the word "fiancee'"
Questa parola era caduta in disuso anni fa, ma ora sta diventando
sempre piu' comune.  I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
A.

 Brisbane, Aus.
It's quite a pleasure to read Raymot again! 

 'partner' significa un rapporto serio.
In the UK I've had the strong understanding that talking about
boyfriend / girlfriend implies a strong relationship, ie you're
engaged to get married (bethroted?)
[...]
bye
Gennaro 

 engaged to get married (bethroted?)
In the U.S., it can be a serious relationship or a casual relationship. 
Betrothing is optional.

 sempre piu' comune.  I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
Nei telefilm degli ultimi 10 anni l'ho sentita più volte.
Ciao,
Enrico il Pentolaio.
-- 
I chitarristi passano metà della propria vita ad accordare la chitarra e 
l'altra metà a suonarla scordata.

 fidanzata, o marito e moglie.
Kiuhnm

 nostro status?
Se accetti un opinione anche da uno non proprio espertissimo, io direi
semplicemente "my woman".
Ciao, Joe

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Oh no!  Please...that sounds so trashy!
a.

 Ciao, Joe
Oh no!  Please...that sounds so trashy!
So.... it seems that "Girfriend/boyfriend" won the competition :)
I really didn't expect this...
"This is my girfriend and they are her doughters..we are here for a leisure 
trip.."
Ciao,
Parret (-21 days to O'Hare Airport..) 

 Parret (-21 days to O'Hare Airport..)
Ottima scelta! ;-) 

 those girls who doesn't like being called a girl. 
As she doesn't speak English, I suspect he can call her
anything at all with impunity. It's the customs guys
you need to worry about :-)
Antonio


Grazie
Joe from Massachusetts

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Not as trashy as "old lady", which was once very common here.  :>)
Joe from Massachusetts

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Another one I'm sure you like is "my main squeeze".  :>)
Joe from Massachusetts

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I would go with "fiancee'" if I were you.
A.

 I really didn't expect this...
While I agree that "girlfriend" is an excellent choice, I wish to
specify also what mentioned on the Oxford English Reference
Dictionary, 2nd ed., under "woman", meaning no. 3 : "colloq: a wife or
female sexual partner". Sincerely, I do not see the trashy side of it
(unless we accept that colloquial=trashy?), but as I alreay said I am
not such an expert and gfc is probably much better placed to judge.
Kind regards, Joe

 Not as trashy as "old lady", which was once very common here.  :>)
LOL, in this particular case "old lady" would be particularly
distasteful... :-)

 Is "my squaw" offensive?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squaw
One for the "best avoided" category (regardless of
the merits of the article).
Antonio

 "Unregistered wife"?
SWMBO
Antonio

 "Unregistered wife"?
Ever since the tariffe placed on foreign visitors engaging in extramarital 
sex on US soil was repealed, custom officials no longer care about the 
relationship status of any girl you may bring into the country. And, since 
women are no longer considered chattel, you don't need to list them on a 
carnet for customs either. The only concern of customs officials would be 
that you take her with you when you leave the US, rather than sell her off 
to someone under-the-table and avoid taxes.
My suggestion is that you identify her as your 'sweetheart' to the customs 
agent. He will sneer appropriately and be put off just enough by the cloying 
reference and the seven year age difference to not ask any more questions. 

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I cannot imagine anyone standing in front of customs officials,  or in
any office, or talking to a stranger in general, and referring to
their mate as "this is my woman".  Where I live, in California, that
would sound really trashy.  I can't speak for other parts of the
United States, but I suspect it's the same.
In Italia se tu parlassi con un agente doganale diresti "questa e' la
mia donna"?  Perfino in italiano mi pare non sia molto appropriato e
suona ancora peggio in inglese.
Of course, you can find almost anything in the dictionary.  You can
look up "colored" and it will give you "a person of a race other than
white" or something similar.  Now, just because the dictionary reports
that meaning, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's an acceptable term
and can be used.
I would go for "fiancee'" or "girfriend".
A.

 wrote in message
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ah...here too, but that was in the 60s when we all wore flowers in our
hair.  Remember?

 wrote in message
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"If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair"
("San Francisco", Scott McKenzie) 1967
"Hey Joe, where you goin' with that gun in your hand
Hey Joe, I said where you goin' with that gun in your hand
I'm going down to shoot my old lady
You know, I've caught her messin' around with another man "
("Hey Joe", Jimi Hendrix) 1967
"Hey Punk, where you goin' with that flower in your hand?
Hey Punk, where you goin' with that flower in your hand?
Well, I'm goin' up to Frisco to join a psychedelic band.
I'm goin' up to Frisco to join a psychedelic band."
("Flower Punk", Frank Zappa)(based on Hendrix's "Hey Joe") 1968
Joe from Massachusetts

 ha scritto...

Thanks, Gennaro!
Cerchero` di parlare in italiano piu` spesso - la mia practica
e` diminuta negli anni recente. Non e` necessario che vi mi
correggete!
R.

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I agree. I think would be less offensive to call someone "colored" (which
was the most common word used by both black and white Americans to describe
black Americans until the late 1960s) than it would be to describe a female
as "my woman".
Joe from Massachusetts
Joe from Massachusetts

 suona ancora peggio in inglese.
In Italian, you'd only expect such an expression from someone acting the
stubborn drug dealer in a B movie... Even in that case, the line would only
come *after* the customs agents arrested him and his woman, so they can stop
pretending they'r an innocent couple of tourists.
--
Cingar
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Inviato via 
http://arianna.libero.it/usenet/

 WTBHIT?
She Who Must Be Obeyed.
I don't know for sure that it's from Rumpole of the Bailey,
but that's where I first tripped over it.
Antonio

 - Show quoted text -
Joe, thanks for the memories......
A.

 but that's where I first tripped over it.
"She", by H. Rider Haggard