• [object Object]@lemmy.ca
    2262·
    4 days ago

    Assuming he’s not cheating with her (emotionally or physically), this is called having a friend.

      • swagmoney@lemmy.ca
        102·
        3 days ago

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

        • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
          83·
          3 days 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.

          • dditty@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            13·
            3 days ago

            It probably depends on the person/couple. But if he were being emotionally intimate with the work colleague in a way he wasn’t with his actual spouse that could be problematic.

  • fizzle@quokk.auEnglish
    1301·
    4 days 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
        273·
        3 days ago

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

        • ramble81@lemmy.zip
          72·
          3 days ago

          I’ve had a “work wife” who was a guy and later one who was a girl. I guarantee in both cases I was not hooking up with either one.

    • hitmyspot@aussie.zone
      126·
      3 days 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.auEnglish
        302·
        3 days 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
          161·
          3 days ago

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

        • hereiamagain@sh.itjust.works
          184·
          3 days 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
            93·
            3 days 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.

      • architect
        42·
        3 days ago

        Don’t get romantic (usually, but would if they could) fixed it for you ;).

    • Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world
      262·
      4 days 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.

    • Rooster326@programming.dev
      71·
      3 days 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

  • bstix@feddit.dkEnglish
    7·
    2 days ago

    Semantics aside, I wonder how she would describe the same relationship and what prompted him to post this in the first place.

    • Ioughttamow@fedia.io
      34·
      4 days 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
          11·
          4 days 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.