slatereport.com/news/da-says-8th-grade-student-murdered-by-abusive-boyfriend-21-hours-before-her-middle-school-graduation/
Eighth-Grade Student Murdered by Her Abusive Boyfriend, 21, Hours Before Middle-School Graduation
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“Boyfriend” is being used to clarify the nature of their relationship - specifically that this person was not a family member but came from outside the family, and that their relationship was sexual as opposed to a non-sexual.
If the headline just said “abuser” then it’s less informative and more ambiguous how the victim and perpetrators knew each other. “Abuser” is so broad that it doesn’t tell you anything about how the two people know each other, and could include family, sexual contacts, friends/aquaintances, or even a bully.
The article should’ve put “boyfriend” in quotations
Why? We may not like it, but they had a relationship
Just because she considered him her boyfriend doesn’t mean we have to
But … do we just because the word isn’t in quotes?
I don’t think anyone with half a brain reads that headline and assumes it’s a healthy, normal relationship just because boyfriend isn’t in quotes
I think it’s just a shorter way to say “so-called” boyfriend. Obviously any sane human would see this is wrong and not a healthy situation, but why leave it up to the reader to make that distinction?