History Main / NotThatKindOfPartner

* There has been some confusion on the term "partner" in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' (between the festival and summer arcs).

* 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.]]

-->'''Brock''': Not really, it's more like I work for him ''wait'' a minute, ''NO!''

* ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' - Robert Goren's mother was already a little bit out of it, so she started thinking that Alex Eames was his girlfriend.

* In ''Anime/CaseClosed'' 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.

* ''{{Reba}}'': Van auctions a day of working out with him in a silent auction and the winner of the auction was an effeminate man who wants to understand football better because his "partner" always talks about it. Turns out [[CampStraight he's straight]] and he was talking about his business partner.

* 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 later when the EMT is surprised at the mention of them working on a case that we're shown that's not what she meant.

* In ''Literature/{{CAPOW}}'', the term "partner" gets lobbed about quite a bit to ShipTease eventual OfficialCouple Talon and Samui.

[[folder: Film]]
* Inverted in ''Film/AmericanBeauty'': when welcoming Colonel Fitts to the neighborhood, Jim Olmeyer introduces Jim Berkeley as "my partner". Colonel Fitts asks them to cut to the chase and proceed with the sales pitch, as he presumes they're business partners, and reacts with disgust when he realizes they mean ''romantic'' partner.

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]

[[AC: FanWorks]]

[[AC: Film]]

[[AC: Literature]]

[[AC: Live Action Television]]

[[AC: Web Original]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]

* Very common in ''TheHollows'' books between Ivy and Rachel; compounded by the fact that with Rachel under Ivy's protection, other vampires assume Ivy must be getting blood and/or sex in return.

* Something similar in the English dub of ''SamuraiSeven''. Kambei calls his war buddy his [[HoYay "old wife"]], and this is translated as having him refer to the guy as his "mate". So, in English as in Japanese, the other characters are surprised when they meet the guy and find out he isn't a (female) love interest.
* There has been some confusion on the term "partner" in ''MahouSenseiNegima'' (between the festival and summer arcs).

* ''{{The X-Files}}'' Mulder and Scully run into this, too. The fact that they're closer than most married couples likely doesn't help the situation.
* In the pilot of ''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.

* [[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 on the show before that).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' ''Return to Spider-Skull Island'' begins with Dr. Venture admitted to a hospital emergency ward. Brock goes to follow him in but is stopped by a doctor.

* Inverted in ''AmericanBeauty'': when welcoming Colonel Fitts to the neighborhood, Jim Olmeyer introduces Jim Berkeley as "my partner". Colonel Fitts asks them to cut to the chase and proceed with the sales pitch, as he presumes they're business partners, and reacts with disgust when he realizes they mean ''romantic'' partner.

* Very common in TheHollows books between Ivy and Rachel; compounded by the fact that with Rachel under Ivy's protection, other vampires assume Ivy must be getting blood and/or sex in return.

* Often but not always averted on ''{{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.

* LawAndOrderCriminalIntent - Robert Goren's mother was already a little bit out of it, so she started thinking that Alex Eames was his girlfriend.
* Mike and Carl in MikeAndMolly.
* {{Reba}}: Van auctions a day of working out with him in a silent auction and the winner of the auction was an effeminate man who wants to understand football better because his "partner" always talks about it. Turns out [[CampStraight he's straight]] and he was talking about his business partner.
* In ''{{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.
* {{The X-Files}} Mulder and Scully run into this, too. The fact that they're closer than most married couples likely doesn't help the situation.

* In Literature/{{CAPOW}}, the term "partner" gets lobbed about quite a bit to ShipTease eventual OfficialCouple Talon and Samui.

* ''TheVentureBros'' ''Return to Spider-Skull Island'' begins with Dr. Venture admitted to a hospital emergency ward. Brock goes to follow him in but is stopped by a doctor.

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

* In WebOriginal/{{Capow}}, the term "partner" gets lobbed about quite a bit to ShipTease eventual OfficialCouple Talon and Samui.

* In {{Capow}}, the term "partner" gets lobbed about quite a bit to ShipTease eventual OfficialCouple Talon and Samui.

* [[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 on the show before that).

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.

This trope is OlderThanTheyThink because "partner" has always had that double meaning, and it's a handy way to drop in some ShipTease or HoYay, but expect to see this trope pop up more and more in lieu of (or in conjunction with) SheIsNotMyGirlfriend. Compare, contrast NotThatThereIsAnythingWrongWithThat.