Learn English – more informal or slang alternative to “couple” for two youths in a relationship

single-word-requestssynonyms

I am trying to use a noun to refer to youths in a relationship (boyfriend girlfriend), but even though technically it is correct, "couple" to me just sounds a bit too serious and old fashioned. It's more common for this age group to refer to themselves as "going out" or just "together". It's similar to the difference between "partner/significant other" and "boyfriend/girlfriend" where one is used more often depending on the age of the two.

What should I use? Below is an example sentence:

Example

They walked into the restaurant and saw a few other couples around their age.

Best Answer

item

Slang (in American English) a couple identified publicly as sweethearts or lovers

  • John and Joan are an item (Collins)

However, for your sentence lovebirds might work better:

They walked into the restaurant and saw a few other lovebirds around their age.

lovebirds (plural, informal) : people who are lovers : people who are in a romantic relationship

  • The two lovebirds were spotted … boating on the water during the day, before hitting the club at night. — Maeve McDermott (M-W)
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