Hello, abtin.
Welcome to the forum.:-D
I'm really sorry I'm hijacking your thread, but please allow me to ask a question here.
Is 'boyfriend' pronounced(stressed) differently from 'boy friend'?
P.S. If I should have started another thread on this question, please tell me so. I will next time.
(I thought it might be a good idea to ask the question here.)
I sometimes hear attempts to avoid confusion in a case like that by using the indefinite article - I'm going to the cinema with a girlfriend tonight - meaning "one of several" and thus implying friendship, rather than the exclusive, romantic relationship that my signifies. (Although I suppose both males and females sometimes have several of those kinds of girlfriends as well!)... If a girl/woman who I had only recently met and therefore whose sexual orientation was unknown to me said "I'm going to the cinema with my girlfriend tonight", I would probably immediately assume that she was going with her lesbian partner...