Words I Love

I love the word “flex” because I repurposed it.

For years I have been plagued with a problem: I have several good friends who used to be lovers. But when referring to them, it always felt wrong to call them “ex-girlfriends”. The implication of the term is that this is a person with whom you have little contact. What I needed was a word that could be defined as

former lover, present friend

And so “flex” was born. I have written it into the Urban Dictionary (go here to vote it up in the ranks).

I have also defined “flex” with a few prefixes:

• ex-flex: A former lover who then became a friend, but who is presently neither.
• sex-flex: A former lover, present friend, who one occasionally has sex with.
• best flex: One’s favorite former lover, present friend.
• boyflex: Former male lover, present male friend.
• girlflex: Former female lover, present female friend.