Howdy Partner,

As a writer, I have a real thing about language, and I love over thinking the language which people choose to use when they are describing different things. The one that I will always remember is this gentleman talking about his dog, who was a little over-excited and rather friendly. Rather than telling the people he was sharing the bus journey with that his dog was fond of recieving attention, he announced that the dog liked to be 'appreciated', which I thought was a terribly odd choice of a word for a dog, but I guess that it told me more about the owner than the pooch who was pulling him around.

Sometimes, I think people are very deliberate in which words they choose, whether it's to attempt to hide something or display it with a certain flamboyance, or even just because they prefer the feel of one word on their tongue, or it's connitations in their mind.

I do it as much as anyone else. More often than not, if I meet someone new, I tell them I'm studying Philosophy, because people have an idea of what that is, so you can get into a good discussion with them, whereas if I tell them that I study Philosophy, Religion and Ethics at Heythrop College, most of the conversation is me explaining what that is and where the college is which gets pretty darn boring actually. There's only so much you can jazz up Christology for those who have no interest in religion.

My favourite one though has got to be 'my partner' because it's just so beautifully ambiguous. Really, there is nothing better. One of the reasons I love it is because of the gender ambiguity, which I find lovely, the other reason I love it is because it feels more serious.

My current situation is living in student housing, studying a few hours a week at university, working part time and wondering where on Earth all the time goes, but in the same way, the girlfriend/boyfriend label can sometimes feel a little bit, well, little. In the same way, partner always makes me think of Woody from Toy Story, or like partners in crime or something, because in my head, I'm in Neverland.