Originally Posted by vicente

"BOYfriend" almost ALWAYS means novio here in the U.S. The accent is on boy. If someone wants to use the same words to indicate that the person is just a friend they would probably say "a boy FRIEND" with an "a" in front, the two words separated, and emphasis on friend. There are many other ways to say that you have a male friend, of course, but boyfriend is pretty much reserved for somebody who is more than just a friend.

Strangely though, the word girlfriend is different. Females frequently refer to their female friends as girlfriends; however, a male would NEVER refer to another male as a boyfriend! (with obvious exceptions!! )