Why Do Some Couples Say "Wifey" and "Hubby" When They're Not Actually Married?

Kylie Jenner calls Travis Scott “hubby,” and he calls her “wifey,” but the two never tied the knot. They use a lot of ring emojis, too. It seems like maybe they just want fans to be under the impression they’re secretly married? 

It’s been confusing for everyone, including the Kardashian-Jenner clan. Kim Kardashian even claims to have no clue what’s up.

"Are they married or what?" Busy Philipps asked Kim on Sunday night's episode of Busy Tonight. "I honestly don't know. I see that too... they're the cutest and I think they're so in love and they have the cutest little family. I would say like no, they're just being cute and posting that, but they posted it a few times, so I am going to ask in our group chat today when we leave here," Kim replied.

OK, keep us in the loop.

In the meantime, let’s explore why people label each other husband or wife without being married. What’s the point?

One commenter on Quora explained that it could be because of a lack of an “in between” word after boyfriend/girlfriend and married. “When in a conversation you say ‘my wife and I went to this party,’ do you mean ‘the woman with whom I set up a legal arrangement to share wealth and household then partook in an official ceremony to get that all in writing in front of witnesses and I went to this party,’ or more along the lines of ‘the woman I love and I went to this party?’ If you typically mean wife in the former sense, you may very well be outraged that people who seemingly skipped all those chores are pretending to have completed them. Your wife could feel somewhat disappointed in your interpretation though … What those unmarried people mean to say and what you happen to hear may be misaligned. No reason to get upset about this. Try to see their perspective and appreciate that they feel a connection with their significant other worthy of a verbal upgrade from ‘girlfriend’ to ‘wife.’”

Makes sense.

Another commenter points out that in “the modern day there are legal complications and contracts that people sign to do things like combine their assets. People who choose not to get legally married are just choosing not to do that.”

But writer Mandy Stadtmiller, author of Unwifeable, actually has a huge problem with the term, telling The Washington Post that "throughout pop culture, there are many ways women are described as 'wifeys," adding, "Most significant, it is used to evaluate a woman’s narrow potential as a spouse."