Poodle.

My wife and I use the word poodle as a sort of safe word when we're discussing issues that might force one of us to lie just to make the other happy (we stole it from a Chuck Palahniuk novel). It's a standalone question, “Poodle?” Or a confident statement, “Poodle.” Basically, it means I'm being completely truthful.

For example, my wife might want me to accompany her to a dance costume expo in Atlanta on a Saturday morning. She really wants company because her dance teacher friend had to cancel at the last minute, so she asks me. I reluctantly agree.

She asks, “Are you sure you're ok going to this dance costume expo?”

I answer, “Yes.”

She replies with, “Poodle?”

Ugh. If I reply with “Poodle,” it means I'm being completely truthful about wanting to go, but I'm not really, so it forces me to admit that I'd really just rather lie around in my jammies playing videogames.

When one per...