Among the words we use in Denmark is the gender-neutral "kæreste", which means "dearest one" (roughly translated, "Min kæreste" = "my dearest one"). It is pronounced like "caress-T" (etymologically, they are related, obviously!). It does sound a bit pretentious in English, but it's certainly not as bad as some of the other words we tend to use... (my woman, the hole - yeesh!, et cetera)
Audited March 22, 2002