However honest a life you might think you live, secrets are still an inseparable part of many relationships, whether romantic, familial, or platonic. We all lie or withhold the truth about things to a certain extent—whether we mean to or not.

Reddit user u/socialunsocial sparked a spicy discussion after asking men to open up about the secrets that they’ve been withholding from their partners. We’ve collected some of the most impactful secrets, both wholesome and uncomfortable, to share with you. Scroll down to check them out.

#1

My wife doesn’t know that I record her when she cooks. She LOVES to cook. She does a little dance and hums to herself. She’s beautiful. Sometimes, when she is having a bad day, I pretend to feel ill and ask for her to make me pumpkin soup, and she lights up. She’ll whip up some soup and her mood improves. I’ve saved the videos and I hope to watch them together when we’re old.

Image credits: Sardothien12

#2

My girlfriend chews her food noisily. She used to have an eating disorder, and so I refuse to ever let her know so she can keep on eating tasty food with me without overthinking it.

Image credits: GollyColly

#3

I don’t give a sh*t about 90% of the TV series ‘we’ like to watch together. I go along with it because I like her getting into the shows and talking to me about it and having a distraction from the daily stresses.

Image credits: MrDevious54

According to research, keeping secrets, whether from outsiders or close family members, is an overwhelmingly common practice. 

A good rule of thumb when it comes to secrets is to think about whether or not they directly impact your partner. If it’s something that deeply affects their life, you owe it to them to tell them whatever happened. However, if the secret is something negligible or even wholesome, then you have the choice to keep it to yourself. There’s also a difference between secrecy and privacy. There’s nothing to feel guilty about if you want to keep certain things private, even from your spouse.

#4

She snores like a pack of horny, angry bears having some sort of MMA orgy on the back of a semi truck that is trying to downshift too soon. I tease her about that, of course, because I love her. The part I don’t tell her is that…that sh*t is my white noise at night. When she is gone for some reason and I have to sleep alone, I just can’t sleep as well.

Image credits: KhaosElement

#5

After having lots of alcohol together, I mentioned something to my (then future) wife like: I wonder what our future together would be like. Do you think we would ever get married?

The alcohol translated this in her head as: do you want to marry me?

The passion in her ‘YES I DO’ was so cute. It brought tears in my eyes. I knew she liked me, but at that moment she showed she wanted to spend her life with me.

We’re close to 15 years married now, very happy. She is my best friend.

Image credits: Denagam

#6

I love hot, spicy food. She used to have almost no tolerance for chili and had a shamefully bland diet. Over a period of several months, I cooked regularly and, starting with a teeny tiny bit of chili, slowly increased the amount in our food. One day in a Thai restaurant, she was so thoroughly enjoying a dish and offered me a bite. It was so hot it blew my head off. Was literally a victim of my own success.

Image credits: user_error41

Unless you’re a longtime practitioner of radical honesty and your social circle knows what to expect, being brutally open about every single thing you think and do might not be the wisest course of action. For one, it’d be exhausting to fill your partner in on every single detail. On top of that, no matter how much we all say how we value honesty, many of us don’t do well when someone’s overly blunt in their manner.

Now, that doesn’t mean that lying is excusable. But how you phrase something is often just as—if not more—important than the message itself.

#7

My wife misplaces things. I’m extremely organized. So if she asks me to help her find things I pretend to look for a minute with her. If I just tell where the item is, she gets very frustrated because I almost always know where things are. Also, I bought a dozen fingernail clippers and sprinkled them where she can easily find them. I’ve never told her.

Image credits: cisco55

#8

Back when we were dating, we went out of town with her youngest child. The older boy, 17, stayed behind because he had to work and what not. I left my car at her house along with the keys. Long story short, when we got back I noticed something ‘off’ about my car. I got in it and realized somebody else was there at some point. So I took a look at the dash cam footage. It’s kinda hidden behind the rearview mirror. Hard to see it unless you looking for it. Her son took it for a joyride while we were gone. Nothing crazy, didn’t go down the strip doing burn outs and picking up girls. Nice, leisurely drive through the neighborhood. I ended up confronting him about it man-to-man. We settled that and I agreed to never tell his mom about it. She already had a lot going on in her life being a single mom, and it wasn’t like there was any harm. He was all around a good kid. I would’ve gave him the keys if he had just asked. He’s 23 now has a lil’ family of his own. She and I got married. Still haven’t told her, but gonna use it one day at some family get together, lol

Image credits: landob

#9

When she tells me I can find something else to watch on TV, I tell her I’m not even paying attention, but secretly I’m very invested in whatever terrible show she’s watching.

Image credits: Chemistry-Least

Discussing important issues with your partner goes a lot smoother if you know how diplomatic or straightforward to be. Some folks respond better to subtlety. Others need to be told things ‘how they are’ without any sugarcoating.

Whenever you’re discussing these sensitive questions, it’s also invaluable if you practice active listening. This means not just waiting for your turn to speak, but genuinely focusing on what your partner is telling you and how they’re reacting to the info you’ve just shared. 

#10

I watch TV shows we both like without her because she likes to talk through them. Then, I watch them with her later and act like I have no idea what’s going on.

Image credits: RumHam426

#11

The mouse traps she set out didn’t kill the mice, they were tortured all night and I had to kill them in the morning with a shovel.

She has a very tender heart and never needs to know that. I’ll steer her towards other solutions if we ever have mice again.

Image credits: storyparty

#12

I have more money than she thinks I have, and I sometimes buy expensive for her, telling her that I found a good deal online. I.e., a really expensive road bike when she was not even looking for a new one because her old, heavy one ‘works just fine.’ She thinks I’m a genius deal finder when in reality, I just buy the stuff for her because I like to see her surprised and happy. If she knew what I payed for things, she would absolutely not approve and probably refuse any of it.

Image credits: Regex22

Meanwhile, if you want to avoid an all-out argument, try your best to focus on talking about the specific problem at hand. If you’re going to start attacking each other over every single mistake you’ve both made throughout your relationship, then you’ll never come to any sort of compromise.

Consider whether you want to be right or if your goal is to repair your relationship and solve whatever problem you have on the table in front of you.

#13

I was a sniper in Iraq.

There is a very long list of things she doesn’t know and I imagine she doesn’t want to know.

Image credits: VenaticisVoid

#14

When I buy something for our son, I lie often about the price I paid, so she doesn’t get mad. ‘He have already a lot of toys and we spend too much, blah, blah, blah.’ We are wealthy and it’s my revenge on my life for living in poverty when I was a child myself.

Image credits: MonsieurGrinch

#15

My wifes ex partner was very abusive, they were together in high school. About a year after we got together, she had believed he had taken a long away job and moved away. Her mom told me not long ago that she saw him out and about in our town. This man really affected my wife, so badly to the point that in the beginning of our relationship she would give me her phone before going to the bathroom because he thought it was “inappropriate.”

I told her mom not to say anything. Im not saying im the worlds strongest man but I am not afraid to protect my wife and I HIGHLY doubt we will see him out and about. I just feel like it will be better for her mental health if he continues to not exist. So ive decided to lie and im ok with it. 🙂

Image credits: _internet_rat_

#16

She’s having a really rough time with some family problems so I’ve been doing more and more with the house and the kids so she doesn’t have to worry. I cook almost every night and take care of the kids pretty much every day. Between that and work, I haven’t had even 5 minutes to myself in over a year.

I tell her that it’s OK and I’m fine, but I’m slowly becoming overwhelmed, I’m exhausted all the time and I don’t know how to ask her for help or tell her I’m starting to struggle because then she will worry about me too. She has enough to stress over as it is and I don’t want to add to it.

Image credits: TheMightyMegatron

#17

My GF came from a super conservative background, and it took her a while to feel comfortable with her sexuality. She spent her late 20’s making up for lost time, and she’s super proud of the progress she’s made. We’re mostly open about our sexual histories, but a little while ago I mentioned having done something that I thought was pretty innocuous, and she got self-conscious. She said it made her realize how inexperienced she is. But I don’t think she’s inexperienced, I just had different experiences. Anyway, I know this is something she’s self-conscious about, so I’m probably never going to bring up the time I worked in porn.

Image credits: gangoon_grif

#18

My wife killed our old cat by thinking she could give it baby asprin when it was getting more arthritic to help its pain (she was told by someone this was ok.. it was not ok). She loves animals tons, and this would ruin her.

Image credits: Accomplished_End_138

#19

I hate the way she loads utensils in the dishwasher. I’ll bring it up in her eulogy or die with this secret.

#20

I have a savings account she doesn’t know about. My wife sees money differently than I do. I like to save, she likes to spend. We have always talked about saving more, but then we do and she will spend it. So I just worked around the problem. I will eventually tell her, but that’s a ways off. I’m not sure how she will take this.

Image credits: West2810

#21

That I’m really happy for her in that she’s found a group of online friends to play games with and watch movies together, but I’m also super jealous because they play all the coop / party games I want to play and watch all the terrible B movies and discuss them as a group but I don’t want to impose on her and her group of friends.

I only have a few people to play games with and all they play is cod.

Tldr. I’m lonely. But it’s nice to see her happy with some friends. Even if they are online only.

Image credits: the_star_lord

#22

That her student loan debt scares the f**k out of me. She has almost $200k and it means I can never retire. She has 3 degrees and is going for her masters and probably her doctorate in education.

Image credits: vogueleader

#23

On Father’s Day and my birthday, the only gift I want is to be alone. It’s not that I don’t love them, but I’d kill for a night home alone to order a pizza, drink beer, and game.

#24

I guess it’s not technically I secret I’m currently keeping, because she left me, but my ex never had a lot of close friends or family. So I kinda brought her into my friends and family, and on holidays and birthdays, I’d make sure to tell all of them to wish her happy holidays/birthday but to make it seem like they just knew and thought of her. Not that I told them.

Image credits: Darth-Atrocitus

#25

I got hit by a car with my bike on my way to work. I am fine, no scratch. Bike wheel and steering wheel was all twister though. Sold my PC for quick cash and bought a new bike. She has no ideal.

I don’t want her to worry about me everytime I take my bike.

Image credits: darquone

#26

I’ve been helping her win races in Mario Kart for a couple of years now. Keeping other racers off her tail, and trying make sure we finish comps on equal points is a pretty fun challenge.

Image credits: Diplopicseer

#27

I sniff her panties as she’s that attractive and her smell just does things to me, when shes not home ill go hunting like a pig lookin for truffles in a french forest.

she would probably not care, laugh and probably get off on it if she found out but its my dirty secret.

#28

My wife has physical disabilities that leave me with most of the housework, holding down a job, and caring for three kids six and under. This all started after our youngest was born. None of her chronic conditions are fatal, but I sometimes wish they were so that she can go to heaven and I can have a second chance at a normal, married life. The wish lasts until I realize I would be truly alone with three kids, and so much emotional baggage that no woman would want me. I will obviously take this to the grave.

Image credits: PoleBear5473

#29

I bought my wife’s engagement ring on Amazon for around 20 bucks a few years ago. I was poor at the time and couldn’t afford an expensive ring, but I still wanted to propose. She still wears it to this day, and the ring looks fantastic with her wedding ring. She thinks it was a super expensive ring but I’ve never told her the truth. She told me the other day that she doesn’t care how much it cost, she loves it either way. Now that I’m making a significant amount of money, I want to surprise her with a better one.

Image credits: UncleRumpus

#30

I sometimes sneakily eat junk food on the way back from the office…

Image credits: T4y1or

#31

That pork loin roast she makes that she’s so proud of is drier than the Sahara and is barely edible. So.. extremely lethal.

#32

How much warhammer minis actually cost…

#33

Every few days when dropping our kids off to daycare, I would get more than just a coffee at McDonald’s. She wouldn’t care, but I feel ashamed.

#34

My bicycle cost $6,000, not $600.

Image credits: Sensitive-Trifle9823

#35

I….didn’t want to ever admit this but….sometimes, when my wife is upstairs, and we agree to eat leftovers…. I order DoorDash ?

#36

I get taken to lunch a lot for work and sometimes lie about where we went so she won’t be jealous.

#37

We actually have 6 old crappy boats and not just the two

#38

I used to tell her how nice she look in leather pants when in reality I hated them but she liked them so much I was just polite.

#39

Ny partner’s weight is a serious turn off, and I think if I told her it would absolutely destroy her self esteem. So I hold that in.

Image credits: Bpump1337

#40

Her sister sent nudes to me and I still have them.

Image credits: Bradley182