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When talking about same-sex relationships in modern Japanese (not Edo-era),
are the same words used for husbands and wives as you'd use for opposite-sex
relationships?

For example, can you use ご主人 to describe (politely) a man's husband, and 奥さん
to describe (politely) a woman's wife? Or do Japanese speakers regard "a man's
wife" and "a woman's wife" as different concepts best described with different
words?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-09T11:31:33.193
13377
2013-11-11T02:21:37.373
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question
words
Are the same terms for husbands and wives used for same-sex relationships?
When I was in college I had a Japanese professor who was also a lesbian. She
referred to her SO as パートナー, and other teachers referred to that professor's
SO as パートナー. It's possible that this choice of words was because it was most
familiar to us as American students, but I feel that in Japan as well this
would be the safest, most 'PC' way to address someone's SO. If I were to ask
her about her SO I'd say パートナーさん.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-11T02:21:37.373
13388
2013-11-11T02:21:37.373
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13377
answer