"The wife".

When the men on here talk about "the wife", it always makes me remember my Dad. If he ever said "the wife", he didn't half get told off by Mum. She thought he should call her "my wife", not "the wife".
I suppose I can see her point in a way, because the wives don't usually say "the husband" do they, it's always "my husband", so why do the men do it?

Re: "The wife".

Can't say it bothers me, my Gran was the wife or mother depending how Granddad was feeling on the day, and I know just how much he adored her, so when I see or hear it I always think they must really love each other.

Re: "The wife".

Cant remember my Dad calling my Mum the Wife.
I do find that one of my Brothers has started calling
his wife "the person who lives here occasionally"
I find it really annoying being told that when I ask
how my Sister in Law is.
She now has a life of her own and enjoys herself
without him all the time and as she is 71 why not

Re: "The wife".

'The wife' its just a term like saying 'me other half' or 'me better half'
I liked on Minder 'er indoors' - so its a harmless term IMO, although I do get what you say Mups
Maybe it depends what area you are from too .....
Me and Hubs, have never used those terms BTW, I just use his name if people know him ......

Re: "The wife".

I am more used to hearing wives/husbands referred to as 'herself/himself' and always referred to my sibling as 'the brother' - but always done affectionately. It is quite endearing as long as there is no malice intended.

Re: "The wife".

It's funny how it seems to be a man thing though, and as I said, Mum hated it. I don't think I've ever heard a woman say "the husband".
I no longer have a husband to test it.

Re: "The wife".

I hate it when I hear men refer to their wife as "the wife"

It's as if she is just an object or chattel...like 'the car' or "the garage"

Re: "The wife".

Depends in the relationship it can be an endearment from someone who loves you so I tend to not leap to judgement about others relationships.

Re: "The wife".

I don't like being called "the wife" ...... my husband only made that mistake once!

Re: "The wife".

When my dad was out having a pint with me and his wife came into the conversation he always said "I don't think your mother would agree" but when I was alone with my mother she would always say "I don't think dad would agree". If I was with my brothers and sister dad was always "The old man" but mother was always Mam. I asked the missus would she prefer to be referred to as the wife or the missus in her absence and she said "It's up to you dear, I don't mind in the least what you do as long as you're not gay" I made a big mistake one time by saying "How's things with you partner" she was furious and replied "Don't ever call me your partner, I'm your wife, we are married aren't we?" So you see no matter what you call the wife some of them are never happy with it.