411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
POSSLQ
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
English
Pronunciation
en /ˈpɑsl̩ˌkju/ GA
en /ˈpɒsl̩ˌkjuː/ RP
en en-us-POSSLQ.ogg US
Noun
en replace with actual quote template
en US Census en person of the opposite sex sharing living quarters.
c. 1981, Charles Osgood
You live with me, and I with you / And you will be my POSSLQ / I’ll be your friend and so much more / That’s what a POSSLQ is for.
Usage notes
The word POSSLQ entered American popular culture during the 1980s, but use outside the census context declined as unmarried cohabitation became more common and unremarkable and as the term "person of the opposite sex" excluded same-sex couples.
References
en 1999 U.S. Census Bureau https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0036/twps0036.html Lynne M. Casper Philip N. Cohen Tavia Simmons How Does POSSLQ measure up? Historical Estimates of Cohabitation https://web.archive.org/web/20191027013553/https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0036/twps0036.html 27 October 2019
en Household