Found phrase - starter marriage

Posted by Masakim on February 12, 2002

In Reply to: Found phrase - starter marriage posted by Bob on February 12, 2002

: : STARTER MARRIAGE -- ".a brief, training-wheels union that she says is becoming an unfortunate phenomenon within her generation. Some of her contemporaries, she says, spent more time planning their weddings than they did being married. She defines the starter marriage as one that lasts no more than five years, produces no children and ends by the time the couple are in their early 30s." Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky., Feb. 12, 2002, article on "The Starter Marriage and the Future of Matrimony," a book by "social demographer" Pamela Paul.

: : This phrase must be taken from the phrase "starter home." People purchase a modest home at first and, with luck and good fortune, are able to "trade up" to a more expensive house later.

: And there's the derisive term "starter castles." the oversized, overpriced monstrosities that sprung up during the dot-bomb era, as a feature of soulless suburban sprawl. These hideous houses-on-steroids are situated around a golf course, generally too close together, on treeless lots, with an architectural style that can best be described as LookAtMe Complicated, with turrets and decks and a roof line like a stockmarket chart. There is nothing at all within walking distance (ever read :Suburban Nation"?) so these yuppies must climb into their (oversized, overpriced --naturally) urban assault vehicles to burn $5 worth of fuel to fetch dog food for the obligatory golden retreiver.

starter castle, noun
A large home built on a relatively small property.
"Property rights are colliding with public regulation in Palo Alto, with a median housing price of an astonishing $ 565,000. At issue are demolitions of older, smaller homes that are knocked down for larger residences, mocked as 'starter castles' by resentful neighbors."
--Editorial, "Palo Alto Palazzi," _The San Francisco Chronicle_
From The Word Spy, October 20, 1998

starter castle: A large house built on a lot that's so small there's no room for the moat. Generally resented by the neighbors for its ostentatious display of affluence -- or bad taste, in some cases.
From The Buzzword Compliant Dictionary

starter marriage, noun
A first marriage that lasts only a short time and that ends in a clean (i.e., no kids, no property, no acrimony) divorce. (Cf. starter home.)
"The past ten years has seen a surge in what are now called 'starter' marriages, as ephemeral as spring."
--Lynn Darling, "For better and worse," _Esquire_, May, 1996
Backgrounder:
This word appeared originally in Gareth Branwyn's Jargon Watch column (Wired magazine).
From The Word Spy July 25, 1996

starter marriage: In the U.S., the starter marriage has become the norm. It's a short-lived first marriage that ends in divorce with no kids, no property -- and no regrets.
From The Buzzword Compliant Dictionary

• Found phrase - starter castle ESC 02/13/02