What do you think about "work husbands" or "work wives"?

[Yavin4]

"Work spouse" is a phrase, mostly in American English,[1] referring to a co-worker, usually of the opposite sex,[2] with whom one shares a special relationship, having bonds similar to those of a marriage. A work spouse may not just be a co-worker, but can also be someone in a similar field who the individual works closely with from a partnering company. A "work spouse" is also referred to as "workplace spouse", "work wife", or "office husband", "work husband", or "wusband".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_spouse

I think that this is a form of emotional cheating which is still cheating.

[qazplm135]

1. I think the idea that you can only have one special relationship in your life

and it's only with your spouse is silly.

Obviously it should be the PRIMARY relationship, but not the sole relationship. As long as that special friendship doesn't cross the line into the physical, or romantic, or usurp the marriage relationship, no, it's not emotional cheating.

If I had a wife, and she had a best friend at work, I'd be happy for her. Now, if she was better friends with them than me, or it slipped into romance/physical or detracted from our relationship, then that's a problem. But if it doesn't, it's not.

[hlthe2b]

2. Ditto. I also think the assumption these close relationships are not or will not remain platonic

is a real problem within this society. It is insulting to me, who has had long term collegial, productive relationships with both men and women for years and that often extended to recreational activities, like hiking and skiing for which their respective spouses had NO interest. I'd add that such assumptions are not merely those of heterosexual relationships.

Fortunately, not all are so unenlightened.

[PJMcK]

3. Dangerous (n/t)

[zipplewrath]

4. Not the few of which I knew

The expression sprung in those situations basically because they had the kind of knowledge of each other that is usually confined to couples. They usually had a banter that was more spouse like. But it was the kind of relationship that military enlisted often had with each other. To a great degree is springs from shared experiences, especially stressful ones.

[SallyHemmings]

5. I love my work husband!

We worked together for ten years. We went through a ton of crap together dealing with our crazy customers. I adore his family.

Sex was never an issue. He is more a like a younger brother. When I became engaged to my husband, he was the first to invite us to dinner.

He is Italian and once a year, he and his wife fix us a dinner that is better than any you can imagine.

I am blessed to have this friendship.

[Marthe48]

6. I had male friends at work

When I was at the library. I am facebook friends with him and enjoy seeing his posts about his wife and children. I would be friends with the other man as well, but it is enough to see him once in awhile in a mutual group. It never entered my head that the work relationship was anything more on either side than people who shared similar jobs and had similar viewpoints.

My cousin jokingly calls her husband the neighborhood husband, because he willingly does odd jobs for the widows and divorcees who live on their street. She does things for them as well. Since my husband has passed, I've wished for a neighborhood husband. I could've had one, but he's a trumper. so no thanks. I can do most of the things myself (she said proudly!)

[Buckeye_Democrat]

7. It's terminology that I discouraged...

... when someone applied it to me and female coworkers. They were just coworkers, period, even if I worked better with some of them than others.

I don't need some jealous husband later bothering me, especially when I didn't even get any of the "benefits" they might assume.

I recently worked in a QC lab where I was the only guy (at least for awhile), and it made sense to me why so many previous guys failed at that job. I'm better at focusing on one problem at a time (majored in math too), like several guys, and that job was non-stop multi-tasking! I had to keep a tiny notebook in my pocket so I wouldn't forget something. Just about the time a particular test was being started, there was some production guy appearing in the lab to demand immediate attention for something else.

The most experienced woman in that lab HATED men, and I started to feel the same way after working in that lab for awhile! Lol!

The guys on the production floor were like a bunch of spoiled brats who acted like their simple jobs were so taxing on them. And they'd forget simple things constantly, despite how those things should've been completely ingrained in their pea-brains after doing their regular routines for so long! (Edit: And those dummies were paid more too! That was the most upsetting thing about it!)

[sweetloukillbot]

8. My wife and I have shared a work wife

She worked with my wife for several years, and when she was laid off I helped her get a job with my company. She's a close family friend, and nothing more.

[Codeine]

9. That's silly.

We’re social creatures and we can form bonds with more than one person.