Goodbye to Wife, Husband, and Spouse?

'Partner' has always been commonly used in the U.K. and it's daughter states such as here in Australia.

I must admit it sounded a bit weird to my ears at first, for me my 'partner' was my friend or 'homeboy' (lol). But now I use it on occasion without even thinking.

'Mate' also sounded very strange to my ears at first. Back in the US that meant your spouse, etc. Here that's a term for a friend or even just a friendly term (saying 'Hey mate, how ya going?' to a stranger isn't uncommon).

So, relax, it's not an evil conspiracy by godless communists.

Just lingo jumping borders.

I once had a 70+ year old Australian woman say to me she loves her 'bling bling'.
I about fell over. :)