So are you suggesting it's possible to be a dominant bottom and a submissive top? (I happen to agree with that, actually....)

I think I prefer the words in part because they more closely describe our roles, and in part because they're flexible. We're also each a bit versatile (the third word so far left out), so she can be the top and I can be the bottom, but in terms of dom/sub, that really varies. Sometimes she's downright dominant, but never humiliating or whipping (I don't like that!), but she'll spank me as a show of affection just like I'll spank her. But there's never really a submissive here, either. And it doesn't matter what genders are being expressed.