| 释义 |
POSSLQ, n. U.S.
Brit. |ˈpɒslkjuː|, U.S. |ˈpɑs(ə)lˌkju|
Forms: 19– posselcue, 19– POSSLQ, 19– posslq
[Acronym ‹ the initial letters of either Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters or Partner of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters, apparently coined by Arthur J. Norton, a member of the U.S. Census Bureau, but never officially adopted.]
A person of the opposite sex living at the same address as another, esp. one who is a sexual partner but not a spouse.
In early quots.: a (proposed) demographic classification comprising such people.
1978Time 27 Nov. 75/2 ‘Partner’ sounds as if they run a hardware store together. The Census Bureau calls them ‘Partners of the Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters’ or PossLQs. 1979National Rev. (U.S.) 25 May 658/1 The Feds, as usual, screwed it up by creating POSSLQ, or Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters, which could refer to married couples as well as unmarried or newborn twins, or just about anybody. 1984Listener 27 Sept. 43/3 There is no shortage of pseudo-sociologese words for unmarried partners, mostly American inventions:..apartmate (one who shares an apartment but not necessarily the bed); and the way-out posselcue (an approximate acronym made from ‘Person of the opposite sex sharing living-quarters’). 1989Christian Sci. Monitor (Electronic ed.) 9 May 14 How do you tell your bridge club that your 25-year-old daughter no longer splits her rent with a sorority sister but with someone the Census Bureau calls a POSSLQ? 2002Riverfront Times (St. Louis, Missouri) (Nexis) 14 Aug. They know he's tight with Jerry Berger and other Posties and that his POSSLQ is [the] deputy mayor. |
