Dear husband
In Internet slang, DH is an abbreviation for dear husband; it is commonly used by women on certain forums to refer to their husbands. Similarly, DD means dear daughter and DS means dear son. According to one forum participant interviewed in an ethnographic study, DH first appeared on America Online.
writes that DH is not merely shorthand meant to save time, but a "cheeky reference". write that using DH and DD help stressed-out women maintain their "good mother" social role by softening complaints about their families. The usage of "dear" can also be sarcastic. writes that DH "suggests a certain distancing".
On one breast cancer forum, where the majority of users are women aged 40–60, a statistical analysis of posts shows that typing out "husband" is associated with short-time members, while "my DD" is associated with long-time members.
