mikao's world

new word

because i'm a big fan of new words... and because i love this, i'm posting it. it's from tara leigh cobble's site, whom i found through michaela's site. i am posting it in full because neither of them have permalinks. and, because this is my personal soapbox, i am going to say this to all of you bloggers who don't have them: go get yourself some permalinks!!! thank you.

now, without further adieu:

"Friendationship: (n) frin-DAY-shun-ship
A male-female relationship, which has exceeded the normal level of friendship, but has not yet acquired official "relationship" status; a phenomenon that is prominent in the Post-Joshua-Harris era; often occurs pre-DTR; i.e. "Greg doesn't want to date Sally, because he's not sure if she's The One, but it's obvious to everyone that they are in a friendationship." Synonym: "Just Friends"; Antonym: "Friends With Benefits".

I invented this word a few years ago, because I sensed a great need for it. My friends and I have used it frequently in everyday conversation, and they have recently encouraged me to release it to the world. It hasn't been entered into the dictionary yet, but I figure that if enough of us start using it, those days can't be too far off. As a matter of fact, "bling-bling" was just added to the Oxford English Dictionary. I'm not even kidding. I heard that they credited some rapper with it. So, let's just all operate on the safe side here and make sure you credit me when you use the word "friendationship". Then I'll be rich enough to have some bling-bling of my own someday.

Friendationships are a confusing thing. First of all, I haven't come up with an official word for what it's called when you "hang out" with the person you're in a friendationship with (is it a "frate", an abbreviation of "friend-date"?). Furthermore, what do you call that person? Until now, I've just referred to the person as "your friendationship" (instead of "your girlfriend", "your boyfriend", or "the person you are always with but won't admit that you like"), but I'm not sure if I like that either. If you think of anything better, let me know.

I'm not going to go into any details about my personal experiences with friendationships; but I will tell you that I think they are the best new trend in dating (or non-dating, whichever you prefer). And as a matter of fact, the best "relationships" that I've had have been friendationships. I fully endorse them. They're also fun to witness...

Two friends of mine, whom I will call "Adam" and "Eve", have just recently admitted to each other that their friendship is, in fact, a friendationship. I've been telling Eve this for six months. Everyone else knew it, too... Adam just finally admitted it to himself. I feel so relieved. So… maybe they will get married someday. Or maybe it will all end weirdly, and none of our friends will feel comfortable hanging out with each other anymore. But that's the beauty of the friendationship... total uncertainty, total lack of commitment.

To find out if you are currently in a friendationship, take this simple quiz:

1. Have you ever read "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris? (yes)(no)
2. After reading the book, did you burn it? (yes)(no)

*disclaimer: Joshua Harris is actually a friend of mine, and I have personally read everything he has ever written, including his private journals, which he keeps in his hall closet. Josh, I mean you no harm, and I think you and Shannon are amazing. Have a nice day, and please don't hate me… this is all in good fun. (P.S. Can you make the word "friendationship" hugely popular?)"