Experts have warned people against the use of one particular phrase within relationships.
The phrase in question has been dubbed 'smug and annoyingly annoyingly vague' and should be avoided, relationship experts advise, at all costs.
They even go as far as to recommend that people 'just cut it' from their vocabulary altogether.
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There seem to be a whole load of different dos and don'ts when it comes to relationships - some of which are clearly more obvious than others.
One of these less obvious 'don'ts' revolves heavily around a specific phrase that many couples have been casually using for ages now.
The phrase in question - according to experts over at The Cut - should be wiped from any conversation going forward.
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Ranking in at number 10 on their list of '194 Modern Etiquette Rules', the relationship experts definitely have some very strong views about one specific mode of address.
In their section titled 'Friends & Lovers', the tenth point tells those within relationships to quit calling their significant other their 'partner'.
It reads: "Straight people can use the word partner only when they’re trying to get something out of it."
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According to The Cut, when heterosexual couples use the term 'partner' when referring to their boyfriend or girlfriend, this is 'annoyingly vague (and also smug)'.
Instead, the outlet explains the 'acceptable' instances where the phrase 'partner' can be used.
Such examples mapped out by the experts include when 'trying to procure an apartment', getting a 'seat next to your partner on an airplane' or in 'negotiations with bosses about relocations'.
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None of which, clearly, involve much romance.
However, the experts do note that this advice does not apply to everyone.
It states: "This rule doesn’t apply to people who are actively resisting the patriarchy by refusing to get married. You have no other word, we realise."
So, in short, the experts advise that the only people who should be using the term 'partner' are those looking to 'get something out of it', members of the LGBTQIA+ community or people who want to 'resist the patriarchy' by not getting married.
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Other suggestions on the 'Friends & Lovers' etiquette list include; never waking up your significant other on purpose 'ever', never using your cutesy animal voice for your pet around another human being and alerting a person within the first two seconds of them telling you a story you’ve heard before that they have, in fact, already told you this.
It's definitely quite a handful to remember all 194 supposed nuggets of wisdom.
Topics: Sex and Relationships
Rhiannon Ingle