Basic Trope: The word "partner" refers to a professional partnership, but gets mistaken for a romantic partnership.
- Straight: Alice is Bob's on-the-job partner at work. When meeting Charlie, Bob introduces Alice as his partner, and Charlie thinks he means that Alice is his girlfriend. A flustered Bob corrects him.
- Exaggerated: This happens pretty much every time Bob introduces Alice to someone, much to his frustration.
- Downplayed: After mistaking Alice for Bob's girlfriend, Charlie quickly realizes his mistake, comments as such, and Bob nods to confirm.
- Justified:
- The word "partner" can refer to a romantic partner as well as a professional partner.
- Charlie thinks he saw Bob flirting with Alice earlier, but was mistaken.
- Inverted: Bob introduces his girlfriend as his partner, and Charlie mistakenly thinks she's an on-the-job at-work partner.
- Subverted: Then Bob admits that Alice is his girlfriend too.
- Double Subverted: But he was just joking.
- Parodied: Bob is being affectionate with his girlfriend while introducing Alice to Charlie. Despite this, Charlie still mistakes Alice for being Bob's girlfriend.
- Zig-Zagged: Bob introduces Alice as his partner. When Charlie thinks Alice is Bob's girlfriend, they initially joke about it. Then, it turns out that Alice and Bob did have a relationship, but split up. But now, Bob and Alice want to get back together.
- Averted:
- Bob doesn't introduce Alice as his "partner".
- Charlie doesn't mistake Alice for Bob's girlfriend.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "No, she's not my girlfriend. We're co-workers."
- Invoked: Charlie knows Alice isn't Bob's girlfriend, but makes the mistake anyway to tease him.
- Exploited: Charlie has a crush on Bob's girlfriend, and wants to make her believe that Bob has a secret relationship with Alice to break them up.
- Defied:
- As Bob introduces Alice as his partner, he explicitly adds that they're workplace partners, not romantic partners.
- Bob goes out of his way to avoid using the word "partner" when introducing Alice, so nobody will make this mistake.
- Discussed: "If I introduce you as my partner, are they going to think girlfriend?"
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Charlie and Bob don't say anything, but Charlie's mannerisms suggest he thinks Alice is Bob's girlfriend.
- Played for Drama: The fact that a couple of Bob's friends made this mistake causes tension in Bob's relationship with his girlfriend.
No, the main trope page for Not That Kind of Partner and I just work together! We're not...well...you know...
