Single or not?

You're in a nightclub and the DJ screams, "All you single ladies make some noooooise."

You make a sound that strikes an awkward balance between silence and a full-fledged holler.

Ah, the complexities of defining "single."

The AJC's Misadventures in Atlanta blog discusses the issue here.

Through college, I always defined single as somebody who wasn't seeing anyone. Simple.

But in post-college life, something weird happened.

I encountered more people who used "single" to mean "anything but married." Many times, even after I mention my boyfriend of nearly four years, people call me a single girl. You know, because I'm not married.

I'll occasionally describe myself as single, too. No, not to pick up guys.

It's just sometimes easier to opt for the "single" label when you're around other people who are operating only on "single or married" terms.

For me, the term "single" brings to mind important things like self-reliance. But it's a little disconcerting to have no real label for a relationship you've worked on for years.

Thoughts?