Boyfriend - Girlfriend

A girlfriend.. .

is a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship, or a female friend.
The term is most commonly used to describe any female person who is in a romantic relationship with another person.
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 about another female in a non-sexual, non-romantic context, the 2-word form “girl friend” is usually used to avoid confusion with the romantic meaning. Though nuanced, there is a significant difference between girlfriend and boyfriend, & girl friend and boy friend. In a strictly grammatical sense, a girlfriend or boyfriend is an ‘individual of significance’ with whom one shares a relationship.

A girl friend or boy friend, however, is simply a friend identified on the basis of gender.Depending on the current informal speech styles in a given time and place, terms such as “[old] lady”, “girl”, “bird”, “wifey”,”honey”, “missus”, and “chick” may be used in the same sense as “girlfriend”, however it should be noted that these terms can be considered as sexist.

It is advisable to not use these terms in formal language. 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.

A female engaged in an extramarital relationship with a married person is frequently considered a “mistress”. Some terms of endearment directed to females, a romantic relationship is not required, are “darling”, “sweetheart”, “lover”, etc.

Users of Internet slang often shorten girlfriend to the acronym gf or the contraction girlf.

A boyfriend…
The term is most commonly used to describe any male person, who is in a romantic relationship with another person. Partners in such non-marital relationships are also sometimes described as a significant other or simply partner, especially if the individuals are cohabitating.

The differences between all these terms are subjective and their usage is ultimately determined by personal preference.The term is now being extended in sense as found for its female equivalent, girlfriend, a term sometimes used by women referring to their non-romantic female friends, i.e. referring to a man’s non-romantic male friends.

This extended sense is only common in the USA; in the UK & India it is unknown and in Australia it is widely understood but considered old-fashioned. Similarly the term guyfriend is sometimes used by females to refer to non-romantic male friends. Though nuanced, there is a significant difference between girlfriend and boyfriend, & girl friend and boy friend.

In a strictly grammatical sense, a girlfriend or boyfriend is an ‘individual of significance’ with whom one shares a relationship. A girl friend or boy friend, however, is simply a friend identified on the basis of gender.The word itself is relatively new — its first usage in print known to the Oxford English Dictionary is in George W. E. Russell’s Collections and recollections, by one who has kept a diary, in 1909.

In the past it had implications of an illicit relationship (as sexual and romantic relationships outside marriage were generally frowned upon). It is now a generally accepted term, however, no longer having negative connotations. An earlier usage in print, dating from July 1889, is discussed in Neil Bartlett,

Who Was That Man?

A Present for Mr Oscar Wilde. On pages 108-110, Bartlett quotes from an issue of The Artist and Journal of Home Culture, which refers to Alectryon as “a boyfriend of Mars.”beau, guy, flame, follower, fiance, inamorato, Romeo, swain, boo, shorty, baby

Certain terms suggest an older man, e.g. daddy, gentleman caller, gentleman friend, main man, man, old man, sugar daddy, while the contrary is true of young man (and the gender-neutral baby) Additionally, gender-indiscrimina te terms also apply, e.g. lover, heartthrob, paramour, squeeze, sweetheart, true love and some more specific terms such as cavalier, wooer, and gender-neutral ones like date, escort, steady or suitor; furthermore, non-gender specific euphemisms such as admirer, companion,leman or lemman, an archaic word for ”sweetheart, paramour,” from Medieval English leofman (c.1205), from Old English leof (cognate of Dutch lief, German lieb) ”dear” + man “human being, person” was originally applied to either gender, but remarkably usually meant mistress

Users of Internet slang often shorten boyfriend to the acronym bf or the contraction boyf.