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Ok, I have a female friend, can I say "girlfriend" as "a female friend, not a romantic lover"?

Ex, I got married but I have a girlfriend.

Can I say "I have a girlfriend (a female friend, not a romantic lover)"?

Also, is "female friend" a popular term in everyday conversation?

Tom
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2 Answers2

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If the question is, "How does a person, of either sex, refer idiomatically to another person, of either sex, in a way that shows they are not dating or lovers?" the answer is simple

I have a good friend, who ...

or

I have a close friend, who ...

Close suggests a friendship of long standing and considerable trust.

TimR
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There are many ways of expressing that. For example, we used to use friend-girl quite often, and everybody I know understood it (however this is very local and should not be used)

You could also say something like:

A girl, who is my friend, ........

Or your example:

I got married but I have a friend, who is a girl.

However, using but would look like the fact that you have a friend contradicts the fact that you got married, which wouldn't really make much sense.

Female friend is not a common way of expressing.

John K
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    ... I hear "female friend" significantly more often than "friend-girl"... which I have never heard until now. Perhaps it's a regional thing? – Catija Dec 06 '15 at 15:01
  • Not everybody. I have never ever heard friend-girl. – TimR Dec 06 '15 at 15:13
  • @Tromano I meant everybody who i knew, not absolutely everybody. I would say it is very local then. – John K Dec 06 '15 at 16:30
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    Was this is in a place where the speakers were native English speakers, and did they say friend-girl and say it unironically? – TimR Dec 06 '15 at 16:38
  • @TRomano Speakers were native, and they did say it unirinically with context matching. But it wasnt exactly a native country – John K Dec 06 '15 at 17:17
  • I too have never, ever heard "friend-girl". I would be very cautious about using that and assuming it will be understood. – stangdon Dec 06 '15 at 19:09