Title text:
Borat came out twenty years ago this year--closer to the breakup of the Soviet Union than to today--but it honestly feels like it's been even longer, somehow.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3237/
It seems to be, at least partially, a generational thing.
I grew up in rural, conservative-town USA and am old enough to remember when "partner" was code for same-sex spouse that I'm not legally allowed to marry.
Whereas if you were in a state where you were allowed to marry your same-sex spouse, then they'd be your husband/wife.
Hearing it now, regardless of orientation, just sounds deliberately vague to some of us oldheads.
A Singaporean woman was the first person I heard refer to their opposite-sex partner as "partner" back in probably 2010 and I adopted it. I had a pretty skewed idea of marriage as a kid and it instantly changed my thinking.
Your spouse SHOULD be your partner. You're on a team facing this big stupid world together.