To Ex or Not to Ex

[Breukelen advocaat]

There is a tendency on this forum to use the term "ex" in reference to people other than legal or common-law spouses. This is very confusing. The other day a guy wrote a long posting about his "ex". It was not revealed until the end of the post that he is 15 years old, and he was speaking about a girl that he had dated for a short time. It would be easier to understand these postings if the relationship was spelled out, e.g. "ex-boyfriend", "ex-roommate/lover", "former-lover", "previous girlfriend", etc. The abbreviated version, "ex", would suffice for ex-spouses.

[Big Calhoun]

In general, 'ex' is meant to understand 'former significant other' which can be a girlfriend, spouse, or gay lover. I hear what you're saying though...usually reading the thread puts it in proper context for me.

[psychocat]

exgf or ex wife is what I use keeps it simple to understand.

[BabyFacedAbortion]

I always just assume it's an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend unless specified otherwise. I for some reason, don't think of someone calling their ex-wife an "ex" but actually saying "ex-wife" (or husband). I feel like that SHOULD be specified. I don't know if I'm making any sense so I'll end it at that.