My gay friend Stephanie brought up a very interesting point yesterday. She said that her parents had pretty much figured out that she was a lesbian, and that the big clue was simply a pronoun. You see, they already knew that Carly was her “best friend” and that she hadn’t dated any boys in a long time whey were spending a lot of time together and even discovered gay porn at some point, but the thing that really tipped them off to Stephanie and Carly being lovers was the fact that Stephanie always said “we” instead of “I.”

When you’re in a relationship, you tend to say “we” all the time without qualifying the plural. Now, obviously it’s normal to talk about yourself and other people, but normally you qualify it first by saying, “Carly and I don’t need a fridge for our apartment; we already have one.” But when you’re in a relationship, you tend to simply say, “We don’t need a fridge for our apartment; we already have one.” Basically, you talk like my grandmother always talks (she always assumes you know who she’s thinking about, so she leaves out names and goes straight to pronouns).

So if you’re trying to keep your relationship a secret from your friends or relatives, be careful to say your significant other’s name instead of jumping straight to “we.” People will eventually notice.