NAME THAT MARRIAGE (cont'd): David Blankenhorn

I've been thinking about the problem of what adjective to put in front of marriage, if we assume that some adjective is preferable to "traditional" and also, alas, necessary in order to suggest the heterosexual nature of marriage as an institution. Well, my candidate is conjugal. I know, I know -- it's an obscure, academic-sounding word. But it has the advantage of being accurate. Conjugal basically means of or relating to the married couple and their offspring and family. In other words, it suggests not merely the close relationship between the spouses, but also the bridging of the sex divide and the procreativity that comes with it.

Will "conjugal" focus group well? No. But it's the best word I can come up with. (Thanks to Dan Cere for first suggesting it.) But I'd still rather stay away from adjectives, period.

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posted by Eve at 11:46 PM VOTE

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