It may seem strange that a gender whose members have no problems burping or scratching their crotches in public have a code of ethics. But we do, at least when it comes to “locker room talk.” Here are the rules:

If you care about the woman, you don’t bring her up to the guys—EVER.
That’s because every conversation that a man has with another man is based on this concept: How much ammo am I giving my pals to use against me later? When a guy has a meaningful conversation with another male friend, he finds everything he’s said, positive or negative, gets thrown back in his face if the relationship ends badly. Smart guys learn from this experience.

“Back in college, I met this one girl and had one of those awesome first dates. You know, the kind where you feel you and the woman don’t have to say anything, you just both get each other,” says Hugh Billingsley, a San Diego-based software engineer. “I made the mistake of telling my college roommate, ‘I really feel like she could be the one.’ Problem is, by the third date, all the romance was gone and she basically dumped me. After that, anytime I even mentioned a new woman, my roommate would cackle in a high-pitched voice, ‘I really feel like she could be the one! I really feel like she could be the one,’ like some pirate’s annoying parrot.”