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When you’re starting to see someone, it’s easy to get carried away a little while trying to make an impression. Maybe you exaggerate how good you are at a hobby, alter your favorite foods list to better suit theirs, or pretend you love that obscure band they’ve been following since forever.
However, if you successfully cast a spell on the person and continue dating, rectifying these small fibs later might be more difficult than it seems.
Redditor Former-Practice-3420 asked other platform users to share the harmless secret they’re keeping from their partner because they lied early on in the relationship, and the replies remind us that biting your tongue is an art we probably don’t practice nearly enough these days.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Girlfriend ordered me a cheesecake to cheer me up after I had surgery. She didn't get herself one for some reason, so I offered her the whipped cream. She was all, "no no, I got that for you!".
So I just told her I didn't like whipped cream. She got so excited and went "Oh this is perfect. Because I LOVE whipped cream."
We're married now and every time I have a dessert with whipped cream, she'll get so excited when I give it to her. And that makes giving up whipped cream worth it, I think.
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#2
Some of the youtube shorts he shows me on his phone aren't as funny as he thinks they are, but I don't say anything because he's just trying to brighten my day.
#3
My wife had a lamp that was hideous. I didn’t have any lamps at my place. When we got married she wanted to bring it to our shared residence. I made an obvious joke about having an irrational fear/phobia of lamps. She took it seriously but I didn’t correct her. We have purchased a home and need a few lamps to brighten the place up. Now she has been slowly reintroducing me to lamps and I have progressed “significantly”.
#4
I recently fessed up to my wife while we were playing one of those couples card games, we had a good laugh but here it is:
Early on in our relationship my wife was trying desperately hard to learn to cook. Her family never taught her and she lived her first 5 years of adulthood living in “girl-dinner” lifestyle. I cook, always have so it wasn’t a big deal to me but it was important to her.
She had made countless meals that were basically inedible… numerous times she would throw it away without even letting me try it.
Then I came home from work one day and she was SO Excited… she had made “stuffing chicken” which was just chicken breasts placed in a crockpot with a packet of stoffer’s stuffing mix. She said she loved it and couldn’t wait for me to try it.
Here’s the deal, she needed a win and I was ready to give it to her. But I HATE stuffing… hadn’t eaten it since the days of my parents insisting I finish my plate at a holiday gathering… idk I just don’t get soggy seasoned bread.
So… I did what I thought needed to be done to help my young wife’s confidence and what did I do? I RAVED about it… poured it on thick, even asking for seconds… thought to myself no harm no foul to give her the win.
Well… then I was stuck… and for over 12 years approximately 1-2x a month, I will come home to the smell of stuffing chicken in the crockpot.
I have in the past even gone to desperate measures and thrown away boxes of stoffer’s when I see it in the pantry and then denying any knowledge.
When I finally told her she fell out of her chair laughing. She had liked it, not loved it… and had made it just for me all those years.
#5
My sister has been with her husband for 17 years. He told her he knew how to snowboard when they first got together.
Every time she tried to arrange a trip for them he would sign up for shifts, say he was too sick or find any other excuse he could.
Last month she surprised him with a trip to a ski resort. They all got up to the hill, he rode the lift to the top, then froze.
He thought about the fake it til you make it, but decided broken bones weren’t worth it. He finally admitted that he lied to impress her and walked his butt down the ski hill. 🤣
She says I’m not allowed to give him grief about it, so I’ll share this story with everyone else, every chance I get.
#6
My bf has two young kids and lives in a separate state. They love McDonald’s. He thinks I use the points on my McDonalds app to get them free happy meals when really I just buy them with my money pretty much everytime because I know it takes the stress off him and puts a smile on his face and that makes it all worth it for me. I love them with all my heart🩵.
#7
That I know that the engagement ring he bought me isn’t a real diamond.
I don’t care. It was a first major purchase He made after his brain injury, and he was so proud of himself.
I love it because he chose it for me.
#8
Not my story but something I found funny on Reddit a few months ago: A guy is playing with his daughter and she asks him what his favorite animal is. He didn't really have a favorite so he just said the first thing that came to mind "manatee". As the years go by she draws her dad manatees, gives him manatee stickers, things like that. Well when she turns like 12, the mom and daughter tell the dad that they are going to surprise him with a trip to Florida to swim with his favorite animal. I probably don't have every detail of the story correct, but the guy lied to his daughter about his favorite animal and years later they take him to swim with manatees. Hilarious .
#9
I actually do have a side of the bed, and it’s his but I for some reason wanted to act all chill when we first started dating and when he asked me if I had a side of the bed I said no (like a psycho, like who doesn’t have a side of the bed) so now I’m stuck in a hell of my own making where I sleep on the wrong side of the bed.
#10
Not mine but I heard a story where the person was buying a cake "just because" and bumped into an acquaintance, and then lied about it being their birthday, which turned into an impromptu party between the two, which turned into a relationship.
But they came clean once the real birthday came.
#11
When I met my now husband, I told him I didn't want a relationship because of a bad break up, and stuck to that for a bit before acting like he convinced me.
Absolute lies.
I knew from the moment his name showed up on my phone, on that sunny morning, the night after we started talking fourteen years ago, that I was in love with him in a way I had never felt before. Adore the man more and more everyday, and don't think I want a world without him in it.
#12
The "salt coffee" story from one of these threads has a special place in my heart, so I will retell it.
A dude is on a date in a restaurant. And, as the coffee was served, he accidentally grabbed salt instead of sugar and added it to the coffee. The girl pointed it out, but the dude didn't want to look like he just goofed like that. So he drank the coffee and came up with a story of how he spent his childhood in a town by the sea and how sea salt was everywhere and that he drinks coffee with salt on purpose because it gives him nostalgia. Cool story.
Fast forward many years, they are happily married. And the wife always makes him coffee with salt instead of sugar. Dude drinks it because he doesn't have the heart to confess that little lie.
But is it really a lie if you commit to it that much?
#13
I hate yellow flower bouquets (unless they’re like sunflowers or tulips) because I associate them with funerals etc. But he likes getting me yellow bouquets because it’s a happy colour.
I love that he buys me flowers, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings, especially when he got me a big bouquet from the florist on my birthday. But it was mostly yellow. I love pinks, peaches, purples…
Don’t tell him, ok?
#14
It WAS me.
I did it. I farted. I tooted and I was too embarrassed to say it was me because it was a FIRST DATE and I didn’t know how to explain that my nervousness was giving me the SERIOUS tummy rumblies.
It wasn’t the person next to us.
It was me.
I’m sorry I lied.
#15
I told my wife I don't like olives on the very first date because I panicked when she asked and couldn't think of anything else to say. I actually love olives. It's been 8 years.
She now carefully picks olives off my portion of every shared pizza, pasta, and salad. She buys the olive-free hummus. She once sent back a dish at a restaurant because it had "hidden olives."
I am in too deep. If I confess now, the olive thing becomes a referendum on our entire relationship's honesty. So I eat my olive-free life and sometimes sneak them at work like a degenerate.
#16
I told husband that hat I hate flowers. I think what I truly hate is the "look, I forgot to pick you up. Here are flowers" or the "hey, I betrayed you but here, take those flowers and shut up". My poodle puppy got me a flower today and I was so happy, he ripped it out and spat it at my feet 😄🙈 and I think that was the cutest thing ever. So maybe I don't really hate flowers but it's too late now.
#17
I already watched the shows she wants to see and know the full history and obscure lore. So I act dumb when she has an eureka moment.
#18
That I don’t like seafood like him….in reality the only thing I don’t like is fish sticks. it’s already out but I kept it for so long that I had to reject delicious fish soup and oysters and shrimp. finally on New Years they made grilled octopus and I had to crack, but he said he didn’t even remember I said that I don’t like it.
#19
I’m really not that into Star Wars.
How was I supposed to know they’d just Keep On Making the darn things!
#20
When I first spent the night at my now wife, we showered but she only had one towel. She let me dry first because she didn’t really dry herself that well after showering. Took a really long time before she told me that was actually lying and she hates being wet. Such a random and lie, because I really wouldn’t be bothered drying with a damp towel.
#21
Early in our relationship, we got around to talking about family pets, and I told him all about my dog… completely forgetting in the moment that my dog had passed a few years earlier. I didn’t want him to think I was a weirdo being like “lol oops my dog is not with us anymore, I forgot,” so a month or so later, I told him I just got news my dog passed.
20 years later, I still get nervous every time someone brings up that dog around my husband, worried they’ll talk about when he actually passed.
#23
My husband and i’s first date was a diner local to him for breakfast, he told me his favorite breakfast item was french toast. anytime i made a big breakfast for us, typically i would make french toast. fast forward 9.5 years, and 2 kids later i found out just a few months ago he actually doesn’t really like french toast and just said that because he didn’t actually have a main breakfast food he really liked and didn’t want to seem weird on our first date.
#24
Told my wife I liked sushi when we first started dating because she was really into it. been almost 10 years and she still picks sushi for date nights. I eat the one cooked roll they have and pretend im being adventurous.
#25
I was scared he’d be disgusted if he ever found out about my secret mustache, so I hid all my hair removal stuff where he couldn’t find it. We’ve been married 20 years now and I just never got around to telling him. It would be weird to mention it now.
#26
No one else calls me by the nickname he does and I don’t actually love it.
I have a semi-unusual nickname for my given name. When I started my dating app profile, I used a different, even less common nickname for my given name. I didn't want people to find my socials and I also liked the idea of being able to chose what people called me. I thought I could make a clean break from my old life with my ex.
The problem is, I still see people fromy old life all the time and my bf and his family are the only ones who use this new nickname for me. I thought it would grow on me, but it just hasn't. My mum thinks it's super sweet, but it just doesn't feel like me and it's way too late to change it.
#28
Not me but a family member. When he first met his future wife she told him that she wouldn't date someone in their 30's (he was 30 at the time and she was early to mid twenties) so he replied with something along the lines of "good I'm only 29". This went on for years until he was approaching his 40th birthday and his mom mentioned it would be his 40th birthday this year and his now wife says no he's only 39, his mom was like no he's definitely 40 leading to questions being asked and him having to come clean.
#29
I haven’t done it to a partner (yet) but I did it to a friend. In the beginning she was just a random lady, and she offered to make a cup of tea. I noticed she was using UHT milk which I really dislike and can always taste a difference. I decided the polite way out was to ask for a black tea, didn’t lie I’m allergic but said “I’m just not a milk person.” I don’t really like it black, but random a cup of it is no problem…
Well we became very good friends and saw each other daily at one point and I was stuck drinking black tea that I was beginning to realise dislike. It’s been years and I’m still maintaining this lie even though she only bought the UHT milk a few times and switched back to fresh soon after. I’ve been waiting for a natural window to slip in a grand revelation that I’ve “suddenly” realised I like milk again lol.
#30
My boyfriend has a huge sweet tooth and always beats me to all the chocolate in the house, which leads to me being very disappointed when I’m surfing the red tide. he also has a nut allergy.
He bought me a box of chocolate covered almonds (if you’re a kiwi you know exactly what I’m talking about lol) and he was so happy that I finally had my own little stash of chocolate that I didn’t have to share with him - he started buying me them every now and then as a cute random gesture.
I haven’t had the heart to tell him that they changed the recipe and I don’t like them anymore bevause the thought behind it is too sweet.
#31
I like to watch tv/movies and discuss them or listen to podcasts about them. Love it actually.
I also like watching the same with my husband.
I will absolutely watch episodes without him so i can listen to my podcasts in a timely fashion.
I pretended i didn't watch ahead on PJO because he was too busy w work. *We* didn't watch the finale until a month or so after it aired. I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG! I NEED TO KNOW!
#33
How my name is pronounced. We speak different languages, he tried his best on our first date and I didnt want to make him feel bad, so I just said he got it right at some point. My friends refer to me with a nickname, so he hasn’t been able to hear it from them.
#34
I told my gf i love her cooking more than my moms. plot twist: my mom is actually a way better cook but my gf made me nasi lemak once and it was so bad i couldnt risk her ever stopping trying to improve haha. 4 years later her nasi lemak is actually fire now so i guess the lie worked?? sometimes deception is just investment in future returns lol.
#35
I have a very different taste in floral bouquets than he does. He’s very proud of the floral bouquets he puts together for me, and I’m just happy to receive them, even if I’d use different flowers.
He had to fix my wedding bouquet when the florist messed it up & absolutely knocked it out the park, so I wonder if maybe it’s just an issue of flower availability.
#36
Not me but my brother’s friend hid a marriage from his wife. He went to college in the states and got married for papers while he was there. He finished school and then came back to our country where he got a job and then met his wife.
They were together for about 7 years and had a child when his wife found out that he had been, and was still legally married abroad. I don’t think it would have been a big deal if he’d been honest from the beginning but the fact that he sat on it for 7 years was the deal breaker.
#37
One time I got annoyed/anxious he hadn't replied, so I deleted our WhatsApp chat and his number. Then I regretted, went back on bumble to get it again and then had to say my phone updated and I lost everything...
It's been 2.5 years and he still doesn't know the truth!!
#38
Mine is food related lol. told my boyfriend i was "mostly fine" with gluten when we first started dating because i didn't want to be That Person who makes restaurants complicated. three years into a celiac diagnosis and i still haven't fully corrected this. so now every time we go out he orders for the table and i'm quietly panic-reading ingredient lists. the one thing that actually helped -- just asking kitchens point blank if they use shared fryers, not "do you have gluten free options" because that answer is always yes and means nothing.
#43
Told my husband (15 years ago) that I had never really listened to the strokes, who are his favorite band and had been for a long time, when we were hanging out prior to dating.
He was hardcore pursuing me and ended up burning me a cd with like 3 different albums on it. I then 100% knew he was into me beyond just flirting.
Also I had definitely heard of the strokes and had listened to multiple songs, lol. I still have the cd. He occasionally brings up that I’d never listened to them, I usually don’t say anything.
#44
About half of his music taste is pretty grating to my ears, but he likes it, so I just tune it out instead.
#45
I don't particularly like Reese's cups. I meant I'll eat them but it's probably choice number 27 on a good day. Early in our relationship my (now) wife bought me a pack of Reese's and I made a big show out of it. 13 years later I still get them when she wants to give me a treat, and I keep having to pretend they are my favourite. Starting to think I should develop a peanut allergy.
#48
I don’t have a roommate. It’s been 5 months and I can’t tell him the truth now. I don’t let him come over because I say we have a no men allowed policy. It’s a lie. I just didn’t want him to see I live alone and have nice things and I didn’t want him thinking he can move in because he seems like the type.
#49
I only started seeing her because I was told she was out of my league so I had to prove them wrong. That’s harmless right?
#50
Somewhere along the way my fiancé (together almost 10 years now) started believing when I hear about things I like all the little irrelevant parts added in that really bloat it unnecessarily into like a story. Think like something happened but she has to tell me all the things that lead up to it happening as well.
I also found out she only does it because she thinks I like it.
I don’t actually like it, and would prefer just the straight up answer, but because she’s doing it only because she thinks I like it I think I’ll leave it a secret.
What do you think ?
BrunoVI 1 hour ago (edited)
My wife is prone to anxiety. So when she began to expect that I was going to propose, I came up with a deliberately ridiculous reason for going to the place I wanted to propose so we could go through the proper motions of surprising her with a ring, etc., but it was deliberately a case of I know that you know that I know that you know what's going on. The problem was that I had to change locations because it was bitterly cold and rainy. So to this day, we still joke about one day getting to see that fictional Bavarian folk band that I suddenly, absolutely HAD to see, even pretending to recognize the glockenspiel player in a passing parade, or being so disappointed with the Busch Garden's German band.
Littlemiss 57 minutes ago
My husband still claims he got the better deal when he met and married me. Clearly it was me.
BrunoVI 1 hour ago (edited)
My wife is prone to anxiety. So when she began to expect that I was going to propose, I came up with a deliberately ridiculous reason for going to the place I wanted to propose so we could go through the proper motions of surprising her with a ring, etc., but it was deliberately a case of I know that you know that I know that you know what's going on. The problem was that I had to change locations because it was bitterly cold and rainy. So to this day, we still joke about one day getting to see that fictional Bavarian folk band that I suddenly, absolutely HAD to see, even pretending to recognize the glockenspiel player in a passing parade, or being so disappointed with the Busch Garden's German band.
Littlemiss 57 minutes ago
My husband still claims he got the better deal when he met and married me. Clearly it was me.
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