defining a relationship

[liltasha]

I was wondering what people's thoughts are on defining a 'relationship'. How long do you think it is before you can call him your boyfriend or her your girlfriend? Are 'dating' and 'going out' the same thing? or even having a relationship with a person?

 

Is it a time thing? e.g. we've been out on so many dates/or for so many weeks/months thereforeeee you are now my boyfriend/girlfriend.

 

Or are there other factors?

 

Just curious...

[buffalosoldier]

I do not think there is a particular time limit on it,i think its just when the time is right that you consider someone your partner.

 

Can i ask,is this something that you are going through personally?

 

in different parts of the world/country people use different terms to describe different parts of a relationship.Like myself,being English we dont usually say 'dating' unless thats really all thats happening,like two people were literally going on date to places,where as in some other countries they might use the term 'dating' to mean something other than that,such as 'seeing' each other or something.Obviously i cannot speak for everyone but thats just what i have noticed from my own experiance.

 

But no,theres no specific time limit,some people jump straight into the relationship and immediately call each other their 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' but it doesnt really matter,as long as both of you know the score and know what sort f relationship you are in,it doesnt matter.Some people are happy to just be in a sexual relationship,some people are in monogamous relationships,and some are just casual but of course the list goes on.-Every relationship is different and none of them are wrong as long as both parties are happy.

 

Hope i helped!

[liltasha]

buffalosoldier, thanks for your help - a lot of what you said makes good sense.

 

i guess i'm going through it... but its not a major problem at present. Been going out/dating/meeting/seeing (whatever word to use!) with a guy for a little while - a month or so - we started off as good friends for a good few months before that.

 

Guess the thing is we went out the first time just to see how things went - I guess its gone ok as we've kept doing it! So I guess we're not 'just friends' anymore.

 

Main thing really is what to say to other people - when they ask 'are you two going out?'/is he your boyfriend? etc. I think he may be a bit disappointed if I just said 'well we've been out a few times' as though its nothing special.

[MollyElise]

I think that if you were in that situation, you should say, we've been dating for a few weeks. I mean unless yall have made a commitment to each other then thats all your doing, going on dates, getting to know each other. I think that when you and the person you are dating can talk about your relationship and the roles, then is usually a good time to say "boyfriend" "girlfriend" b/c you've reached a point in your relationship where your working as a partnership and communicating.

[crinklecat]

I think it's crucial to determne those things.

 

 

I never felt comfortable talking about what the relationship status with this guy I was dating.

 

He dumped me on saturday.

 

I cant consider him my bf, I considered him just a guy I was dating.

 

But you know what? in the real scheme of things It all hurts the same.

 

(I had to ad my little flavor)