History Main / NotThatKindOfPartner

* Inverted in the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "My Own Private Rodeo". Dale's father admits to him that he's gay, and that his 'special friend' Juan Pedro is actually his partner. But, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Dale being Dale]], interprets this as his father actually being a government agent partnered with Juan while undercover, and [[ConspiracyTheorist freaks out]]. Dale realizes his misunderstanding by the end of the episode, and wholeheartedly accepts his father once he does. [[EntertaininglyWrong After all, John Redcorn's gay, and Dale's been friends with him for years!]]

->'''Acacia Byrd''': "We're partners! We share a response centre! Mind out of the gutter!"
->'''Luxury''': "Ooooh, partners! I getcha!"
-->-- ''WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'', "[[https://plotprotectors.neocities.org/TOS/mission04 Protector of the Ringbearer]]"

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Often but not always averted on ''Series/{{Bones}}'' - everyone seems to think Booth and Brennan are a couple but they always say "we're not a couple, [he/she]'s my partner," and the corrected almost always knows what they mean.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' - When Bobby Goren's brother, Frank, first met Eames, he got the wrong idea, which he then passed along to their mother. Frank eventually recognized the misunderstanding (though he continued to doubt that the relationship was strictly platonic), but their mother (terminally ill in addition to her long-term schizophrenia) never quite figured it out.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' JD refers to his {{Heterosexual Life Partner}} Turk as his "partner" (since they're more or less an internal medicine/surgeon team), then hurriedly clarifies "not that type of partner". Later, it's revealed that his patient had the right idea to start with and [[MistakenForGay got the wrong idea]] from the correction.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' Mulder and Scully run into this, too. The fact that they're closer than most married couples likely doesn't help the situation.

-->'''OP:''' i like the word partners because [[LampshadeHanging no one can tell if you’re dating or if you’re in a buddy cop movie]]
-->'''reblogger:''' [adds a picture of Nick and Danny eating ice cream together in their cop car]

* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''Fanfic/{{Ragnarok}}'', Matsuda is Light's partner at the NPA. [[JerkAss Mello]] asks if he's his partner in every sense of the word.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* Used as a [[FandomSpecificPlot/MiraculousLadybug common point of contention]] between Ladybug and Chat Noir in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanworks, as Chat Noir is constantly angling for a RelationshipUpgrade. DependingOnTheWriter's preferences, they may eventually get together, or his [[DoggedNiceGuy dogged pursuit]] and other issues might result in their partnership falling apart entirely.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' JD refers to his {{Heterosexual Life Partner}}s Turk as his "partner" (since they're more or less an internal medicine/surgeon team), then hurriedly clarifies "not that type of partner". Later, it's revealed that his patient had the right idea to start with and [[MistakenForGay got the wrong idea]] from the correction.

* Often but not always averted on ''Series/{{Bones}}'' - everyone seems to think Booth and Brennan are a couple but they always say "we're not a couple, [he/she]'s my partner," and the corretee almost always knows what they mean.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor is always having to clarify that a "companion" is not sexual (actually, the term is an AscendedMeme, since it wasn't normally used that way in real life until the show did).

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

* There has been some confusion on the term "partner" in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' (between the festival and summer arcs).
* In ''Manga/CaseClosed'' Shuichi Akai refers to Gin as "the one that got away" (even going so far as calling Gin his ''koibito'', i.e., "[[DatingCatwoman lover]]") so anyone who overheard him talking would think "ex-girlfriend who initiated the breakup" rather than "criminal that slipped through his fingers"; Kaito, when asked about his relationship with Conan/Shinichi by the Suspect of the Week, [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike uses the identical metaphor]], since he both anticipates that his WorthyOpponent would always show up to thwart whatever he's doing but also dreads the interference.

[[folder: FanWorks]]

* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''Fanfic/{{Ragnarok}}'' Matsuda is Light's partner at the NPA. [[JerkAss Mello]] asks if he's his partner in every sense of the word.
* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''[[Fanfic/AGunToLovesHead A Gun to Love's Head]]'' L and Light are partners but [[spoiler: until Mello forces the issue]] they were completely [[PlatonicLifePartners platonic.]]

[[folder: Film]]

[[folder: Literature]]

* ''Literature/CutAndRun'': Though they do become an {{Official Couple}} later, FBI Special Agents Zane Garrett and Ty Grady have gotten this. After a car accident, an EMT tending to Ty asks Zane if they're partners. He answers yes, not thinking anything of it. It's only when Zane specifically mentions working on a case that she realizes they meant completely different things.

[[folder: Live Action Television]]

* Inverted in an episode of ''Series/{{Psych}}'' when a man introduced his "partner." Career policeman Lassiter simply did not comprehend that he meant lover and assumed business partner or partner-in-crime.

* In the pilot of ''Series/CommonLaw'', Wes and Travis realize in the middle of their therapy session that the rest of the group thinks that Wes and Travis are domestic partners as opposed to police partners. The fact that it was a couples' therapy group probably had something to do with that assumption.
* In ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' episode "Mistaken Identity", Will and Carlton are falsely arrested in connection to a rash of carjackings in the area. When the latest victim comes to the jail to see about his car, he tells the sergeant in charge that the boys weren't responsible and that they're "[his] partner's son and nephew". Before the [[MistakenForGay obvious assumption]] is made, Uncle Phil clarifies that the man is his ''legal'' partner and then berates the cops for ignoring protocol, demanding that they release Will and Carlton immediately.

[[folder: Web Original]]

-->'''Doctor''': Sorry, sir, medical personnel only beyond this point.
-->'''Brock''': I'm staying with him; I go where he goes.
-->'''Doctor''': Ohh! You must be his ''partner'', then!
-->'''Brock''': Not really, it's more like I work for him--''wait'' a minute, ''NO!''

* Mike and Carl in ''Series/MikeAndMolly''.

Since "domestic partner" is a politically correct way to refer to the person you live with (carnal benefits optional), police officers, lawyers, and other people who work with colleagues also get to utter the above StockPhrase when introducing their professional partners, NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat optional.

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' Shuichi Akai refers to Gin as "the one that got away" (even going so far as calling Gin his ''koibito'', i.e., "[[DatingCatwoman lover]]") so anyone who overheard him talking would think "ex-girlfriend who initiated the breakup" rather than "criminal that slipped through his fingers"; Kaito, when asked about his relationship with Conan/Shinichi by the Suspect of the Week, [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike uses the identical metaphor]], since he both anticipates that his WorthyOpponent would always show up to thwart whatever he's doing but also dreads the interference.

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' Shuichi Akai refers to Gin as "the one that got away" (even going so far as calling Gin his ''koibito'', i.e., "[[DatingCatwoman lover]]") so anyone who overheard him talking would think "ex-girlfriend who initiated the breakup" rather than "criminal that slipped through his fingers"; Detective Kaito, when asked about his relationship with Conan/Shinichi by the Suspect of the Week, [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike uses the identical metaphor]], since he both anticipates that his WorthyOpponent would always show up to thwart whatever he's doing but also dreads the interference.

* ''Literature/CutAndRun'': Though they do become an {{Official Couple}} later, FBI Special Agents Zane Garrett and Ty Grady]] have gotten this. After a car accident, an EMT tending to Ty asks Zane if they're partners. He answers yes, not thinking anything of it. It's only when Zane specifically mentions working on a case that she realizes they meant completely different things.

* Though they do become an {{Official Couple}} later, [[Literature/CutAndRun FBI Special Agents Zane Garrett and Ty Grady]] have gotten this. After a car accident, an EMT tending to Ty asks Zane if they're partners. He answers yes, not thinking anything of it. It's only when Zane specifically mentions working on a case that she realizes they meant completely different things.

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' Shuichi Akai refers to Gin as "the one that got away" (even going so far as calling Gin his ''koibito'', i.e., "[[FoeYay lover]]") so anyone who overheard him talking would think "ex-girlfriend who initiated the breakup" rather than "criminal that slipped through his fingers"; Detective Kaito, when asked about his relationship with Conan/Shinichi by the Suspect of the Week, [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike uses the identical metaphor]], since he both anticipates that his WorthyOpponent would always show up to thwart whatever he's doing but also dreads the interference.

!Examples: