(Untitled)

[kalmakka]

I asked Kelly this, but since he speaks Quebecois and not French I'm not entirely sure how reliable he is.

To what extent does 'petit copin'/'petite copine' mean 'boyfriend'/'girlfriend' as opposed to more casual 'friend'? Social context: used by old person from Parisian suburb. pic2008, do you read this?

Comments

[kalmakka]

Thanks! So the petit[e] makes it unambiguously mean boy/girlfriend?

This is a sort of messy area,

[pic2008]

but petit ami/petite amie does mean boyfriend/girlfriend. You can however also simply say copain/copine, where the one of the opposite sex usually is takes to mean boyfriend/girlfriend and the one of the same sex to simply mean friend/pal.

Re: This is a sort of messy area,

[kalmakka]

Okay. Seems reasonable to me. Thanks! You rock!

[furmaniak_ralph]

Or you can go further and say chéri(e)

Good point.

[pic2008]

That would indeed take away all ambiguity. Bien vu. =)