@ Doubting Thomas&fishtank
Okay, but isn't that a classic case of You Keep Using That Word?
I'm not married either, but I would never say I am having extramarital sex.
No dictionary I mentioned before gives a second meaning, and there are perfectly good words like pre-marital or non-marital (for people who don't intend to get married).
I don't know, maybe the word starts to gain a new meaning - that's what happens to languages after all, but isn't it sad? The distinction makes sense.
Non-marital - there is no marriage
Pre-marital - there is no marriage, but there is an intent to get married
extramarital - there is a marriage, and there is something outside of that marriage.
I wouldn't harp on about it, but - well, having sex with your boyfriend/girlfriend and having sex with your *married* boyfriend/girlfriend are two extremely different things. Why desecrate the good one by dumping it together with something harmful and disgusting? Why would a happy couple want to be described by the same word as someone betraying the love and trust of their spouse?
Isn't that almost like subliminal agreement with the people who equate the two? Something like: those two things are similar - they can be described by the same word?
*I* don't think they are similar, so I am going to keep the distinction, thanks.
And remember, extramarital sex kills, or so Scientific American claims, so let's hope it means what I think it means;)