• swagmoney@lemmy.ca
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        1 month ago

        like if buddy here was behaving romantically towards his ‘work wife’ without the consent of his actual wife.

        • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          What does “behaving romantically” mean, though? Can they go see a movie together? People become emotionally intimate with their friends, and it seems pretty fucked up to claim that’s cheating.

          • Tartas1995@discuss.tchncs.de
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            27 days ago

            If your wife/husband would love someone else, but didn’t act on it, would you be fine with that? If not, then you understand emotionally cheating because that is why you don’t like it.

    • Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Hard to tell. Sometimes the term gets used as subderfuge so the person can act on feelings they believe may be inappropriate to the relationship from lack of reciprocity, reprisal if it’s against policy at work, or if it violates the terms of another romantic relationship. I don’t know if it’s fair to automatically call the use of the phrase dishonest, but it definitely provides harborage for those who would use it that way. If someone at work referred to me as their work spouse, I’d quickly help them find a better term as nicely as possible but without compromise on that point. I just can’t see a valid, ethical reason not to let other people know where they stand with me. I mean that in the best possible way, and I don’t think “work spouse” accomplishes that in a way that both defines and honors the relationship most effectively.

    • Ioughttamow@fedia.io
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      1 month ago

      I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

        • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          I’ve never gotten it as an effective insult, tbh. It boils down to:

          I wish I knew half of you better, and I’m a crab about some of you

          No? If he doesn’t like them as well as they deserve, then the “problem” is with him, not them. It’s definitely not welcoming, but it’s not exactly insulting if I’m reading it right.

    • tomiant@piefed.socialBanned
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      1 month ago

      This is describing having a girlfriend except the girlfriend is married to someone else.

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      "You have a female friend? Okay, you can hang out with her. And you can have fun. But you better not be opening up and sharing any vulnerabilities with each other! And don’t you dare share any warm, heartfelt moments! I’ll know!"

    • Rooster326@programming.dev
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      1 month ago

      If she is meeting him out of work, going to dinner, “cackling” whatever that means.

      There’s something in it for her too. Ain’t nobody that naive

  • Janx@piefed.social
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    1 month ago

    Take a work wife (which is already a psychotic term), remove the “work” part, and act like you invented this new type of relationship…

    What are you even talking about!?

    • very_well_lost@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Tech morons are always acting like they’ve just discovered fundamental features of the human experience for the very first time.

      • Krauerking@lemy.lol
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        1 month ago

        Oh it is not just tech. Sailing and ships have ship wives which usually just means taking advantage of a newer person that is scared of saying no to a higher rank.

        Everyone likes to think they are new and original and good morally while being awful.

  • djdarren@piefed.social
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    1 month ago

    My work wife was a tiny Sicilian guy named Bruno. He doesn’t work for us any more, but I still miss our walks into town to get lunch.