POSSLQ
Encyclopedia : P : PO : POS : POSSLQ
POSSLQ is abbreviation (or acronym) for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households.
After the 1980 census, against all odds, the term (pronounced "poss-el-cue") gained currency in the wider culture for a time, with CBS commentator Charles Osgood memorably composing a verse which began
- There's nothing that I wouldn't do
- If you would be my POSSLQ
- 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.
See also
Elliot Sperber, the writer of the Hartford Courant's weekly cryptogram, invented a cryptogram that (when solved) said: " Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, Won't you be my POSSLQ?''"Of course, the cryptogram generated angry letters from faithful cryptogram solvers, since this one strayed from the 4-line, rhyming format.
External link
- ["How Does POSSLQ Measure Up? Historical Estimates of Cohabitation" (1999)], a US Census Bureau working paper.
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