Cimorene

Yeah, tweeness is a big part of my discomfort with "partner". I feel like I'm lecturing a roomful of potentially hostile mundanes at a consciousness raising seminar every time I say it. "S.O." doesn't have that problem, at least. It doesn't precisely roll off the tongue, but it could sound worse. On the other hand, in regards to connotative awkwardness it's not much better: like 'partner', in a native speaker context it inevitably brings the pronoun game to mind.

And see, for me, it's not the pronouns at all. I wouldn't mind a gender-specific term at this point; it's just that "girlfriend" is juvenile and "wife" invokes a gender-hegemonic institution that I find distasteful. Perhaps I'll go with "spouse". It's a little more pleasant to pronounce, at least...