• fizzle@quokk.au
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    1 month ago

    The term “work wife” is so gross.

    She was a colleague, and now she’s a friend. It’s fine to have colleague’s and friends but when you start referring to them as some kind of pseudo romantic but professional counterpart it’s just weird.

      • smegger@aussie.zone
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        1 month ago

        Yeah any time I’ve heard the term work wife/husband, it was implied they were hooking up.

    • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
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      1 month ago

      Work wife refers to more than just a colleague. Friend or bestie would fit, however. Work wife describes a particular type of friendship that is quite common for people working closely together who don’t get romantic.

      • fizzle@quokk.au
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        1 month ago

        This is an argument in semantics.

        Perhaps you define this relationship as platonic, but a non-zero portion of the public think it implies something else.

        • GiveOver@feddit.uk
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          1 month ago

          You can tell by the fact that straight men never have a “work husband”

        • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works
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          1 month ago

          I’m in the latter category. “Wife” of any kind involves close emotional connection and probably sexy times.

          You can say that a work wife doesn’t include sexy times, and maybe that’s true for almost everyone using the term. But close emotional connection?

          Friends are fine. Close friends even. But if you’re relying on anyone besides your wife/spouse for close emotional connection/support, you’re begging for trouble.

          How did your wife become your wife in the first place? Likely your emotional connection started first, then the sexual. The same thing can happen with your “work wife”. It’s a risk I’m not willing to take.

          Maybe none of this is true for people using the term, maybe they just mean a good friend at work who they click with and can therefore get a lot of work done efficiently together. Ok good, great even, but I recommend using a different word to describe it, because “work wife” implies something else to most people.

          Or at least that’s how I feel about all that 🤷‍♂️

          • architect@thelemmy.club
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            1 month ago

            You’re right. I’ve seen people who use this term eventually have an affair more than not. I think people taking offense have a work spouse and know they have these feelings.

            Spouse implies sex. We aren’t being a way to assume these things.