18 Phrases That Will Trigger A Breakup

When it comes to relationships, most people are a little "in the dark" when it comes to saying and doing the right things. Relationship noobs tend to mess up a good thing early on simply because they had little to no experience sharing their time - and essentially, their life - with another person, therefore leading to a few mistakes along the way. Mostly, these mistakes tend to happen when they say something that would otherwise be seen as disrespectful, hurtful, or selfish (even if it's unintentional). While such intentions are often not the cause of saying such awful things, just a few words can often be the make or break for any couple of the year.

When you're on the receiving end of hearing certain words from the one closest to your heart, it can stir up feelings of distrust, resentment, and even help dissolve the love you once had for the opinionated offender.

But knowing what to say and do does not come easily. If you're clueless when it comes to love, words, and a general sense of compassion, we're here to help you survive this relationship, one phrase at a time. So before you go down a path of no return and lose your best bae because you can't keep your mouth shut, tune in to these words of wisdom and be the bigger person when those opinions and insults start to creep up in your throat.

18 "You Can't Afford This." Or "I Wish You Could Afford This."

Voicing this opinion to your S.O. will almost never go over well. It communicates a sense of shallowness within you that becomes so plainly obvious the moment you grieve over your partner's lack of funds. It suggests that love is not enough for you in a relationship and what you truly care about are money and things. It can also hurt your partner and make them believe that you're only with them for their money, or worse, you may leave them if they don't make enough of it. When someone constantly fears whether or not their S.O. is mentally calculating how much they're earning and feels like they have to spend their hard earned bucks in order to keep them around, it mostly just makes them not want to bother.

17 "I Can't Stand Your Mom."

Aca-scuuuuse me? When your S.O. admits to not enjoying the quality time they're spending around your family, that's a bright red flag. Your family is a collection of people who you hold closest to your heart, and if your bae can't be respectful of those people, it's time to say buh-bye. Even if you have complained about one or two things about your parents or siblings to your partner in the past, it never gives them the right to do the same. As someone that could become a potential addition to said family, it's in everyone's best interest to keep opinions to yourself when it comes to moms or any other person who is super close to the person you're dating. At the end of the day, a mom is the person who raised your S.O. from birth and shaped them into the person they are today, and if you don't respect that, you're essentially saying you don't respect your partner.

16 "You Always Overreact!"

Following right alongside the exclamation, "You're crazy.", calling out the belief that your partner is always overreacting may give them the idea that you're dismissing their feelings and that their emotions are not important to you. No one wants to feel as if they're not being heard, and when the person who is not listening to you just happens to be your S.O., it can be mentally crippling. Hearing that you're overreacting about something that you feel strongly about can cause you to rethink your own emotions and make you consider, "Am I just overreacting?" When you begin to second guess yourself because of something your partner said or believes, that's when you begin to lose yourself in the relationship and allow your partner to become the dictator in your life. Anyone should feel supported, not invalidated, when it comes to their feelings.

15 "When We Have Kids… "

This one is a little circumstantial. If a couple is madly in love, have been together for awhile, and are frequently discussing their futures together, than this phrase won't really come out of left field. However, if a relationship is super fresh and just coming into its own, this phrase can cause someone to run for the hills. Busting out this line too early is really scary for someone who literally just agreed to make your fling official. Just because someone wanted to upgrade their time with you from a few dates to coupledom does not mean that they're mentally preparing your wedding in their heads. It's also unexpected for someone who has never opened up about their desire (or lack thereof) to even have children.

14 "This Is All Your Fault."

Passing the blame onto others is never an indication of a strong moral or empathetic nature. Blaming others for mistakes or errors in judgement just shows that you're not mature enough to rise above the occasion and either take shared credit for something, or help lessen the guilt and pain they are already feeling. When blame comes from a partner, it can feel like an emotional attack. They're showing the person that they are supposed to love that they don't support them, nor do they care about their feelings. This blatant lack of empathy and desire to finger point clearly tells the other person that the guy or gal they're seeing is not the one for them. Instead, they'll go looking for someone who will comfort and encourage, and if they're a real knight in shining armour, take credit for something even if they had no part in it.

13 "Your Friends Are So Annoying."

Friends are basically like a second family to some people. These people know your bae best and are the crutch they lean on in times of stress, happiness, and celebration. They are there for them in good times and bad and they have known your partner a lot longer than you have, which means that their influence and relationships mean more to them than yours. If you can't stand to be around the people who are closest to your guy or gal, then you might not cut it in the long run. It's either going to be you or them, and it often ends up being them at the end of the day. Your partner wants to be with someone who is accepting of them entirely, and that includes the folk they choose to hang with. If you don't like and appreciate them, then you're probably not going to last.

12 "You're Always So… "

"WHAT? SAY IT. What am I, Kevin?!" Hearing someone start with this phrase is just the start of a bad ending. If whatever comes at the end of that sentence is negative, it's just a clarification of how your partner really feels or thinks about you. It's basically saying, "Ugh! This thing about you is so obvious to me that it ruins my life! I think about it constantly and it keeps me from being happy with you!" Whatever it is that you ARE to them, it's probably some trait that they don't respect or wish you didn't have. If the end of this phrase happens to be something that you're insecure about, it makes it all the more worse. It shows you that the flaws that you see in yourself are also seen by the one person who should be loving you unconditionally.

11 "Don't Eat That."

Um, excuse me? Who are you, my mother? When it comes to a woman and the food she eats, no man should be commenting on - or coming between - that relationship. Any comment on any food that a woman decides to scarf down will only come across as judgemental and target her insecurities. As women, we're completely allowed to eat whatever, whenever we want, and no one has the right to say otherwise. We can make our own choices, and whoever we're with should be supportive of the fact that we'll sometimes want to eat doughnuts for dinner or Twinkies from the corner store. It's called hormones, guys! We don't always have control of the wheel, especially when our insides are hankering for some ice cream. For us women, it's take us as we are, or leave us. Pizza will always win over our hearts over some would-be relationship with someone who doesn't understand our love of carbs.

10 "I'm SO Done With You."

This one is as plain as it's going to get when it comes to predicting the end of a relationship. Even if this was voiced from a place of intense emotion, this can immediately lower your partner's worth in a relationship and make them feel on edge. It clearly indicates that you've got one foot out the door, and even if you didn't, it's a phrase that you might not be able to bounce back from. It also gives you the upper hand in the relationship, causing the other person to try to win back your affections and hold on to you tighter than usual, making them needy and insecure. It's a damaging phrase to any type of relationship, but one that holds even more weight when it's said between two lovers.

9 "You Can't Do Anything Right."

This one is really sad. For any person who lays this line down on their S.O., prepare to lose the one you're with, either literally or emotionally. If you ever tell your partner that you don't care, that can be an awakening for some people, allowing them to recognize that you're not the supportive person they expected of you. It can also be crippling to someone who is an anxious person or who suffers from another mental illness, causing them to latch on to their partner in hopes of rectifying their thoughts. They'll either want to try and do everything right to win back their admiration, or they'll see their S.O.'s for who they really are: a selfish person who lacks compassion and respect for the person they're dating.

8 "I Don't Care."

Another doozy of a phrase that you should never say out loud to your bae is "I don't care." The real translation behind this phrase is, "I don't care about you, your opinions… or our relationship." Not caring shows one of two things to your partner: you're an apathetic person with no emotion, drive, or passion (traits that most people would leave someone for having), or you're selfish and only care about yourself (and why would anyone stay with someone like that?). Relationships are all about give and take between two people. You listen to each other, you share your opinions, hopes, and dreams with each other, and you respect each other by choosing to care about the same things that your partner cares about. If you don't, your S.O. will quickly discover that they are better off alone than with someone who refuses to be cheer them on in life.

7 "You're Cute, But Dumb."

This phrase is kind of vague, but the truth behind it is that they're trying to hide criticisms behind a compliment. Criticisms of any kind, however subtle or sweet, results in a relationship failure. No matter how softly they sugar-coat the insult, it's still an insult that tends to stand out among whatever flowery praise you've given them. Any variation of a phrase like this, such as "You're so hot, but would be much hotter if you lost ten pounds." or "You're so funny and smart, I can't believe you would have friends like that." While the people who try to put a spin on such insults can seem self-righteous for their attempt to cushion the blow, it can actually be so much more hurtful because it can seem as if you're trying to manipulate them with your mind games.

6 "You're Being Crazy."

When your bae says that you're crazy, it has an intense way of making you feel unheard when it comes to your feelings and completely dismissed for your thoughts and actions. Saying this undermines your partner's opinions and conveys a lack of respect for the person you're seeing. If you suggest that your partner is cray-cray, it may foster a deeper insecurity than the one that jumpstarted the conversation in the first place. When two people are in a relationship, they should be able to express their feelings openly with one another without fear of ridicule or judgement. They should also expect that their S.O. will not shrug off something they're passionate or have a strong belief about. When your bae thinks you're crazy, it only prompts additional anxiety.

5 "Why Are You So Stupid?"

In case you didn't know any better, "stupid" is a hella offensive word. You should never, ever insinuate a lack of intelligence in your partner, especially not by referencing a word that should be banned right alongside "retarded" and "fat". Calling anyone stupid is offensive, but calling your girlfriend or boyfriend that term is downright degrading, disrespectful, and disgusting. Being on the receiving end of that phrase can make anyone feel insecure about their intellect, but when it comes from someone you love, it can be that much more impactful. Because they tend to put this person up on a pedestal, they might even start to believe that what they're saying is true, which is not only sad, it's unhealthy.

4 "Why Don't You Hit The Gym?"

Why don't you get lost? Suggesting that your partner hit the gym is never as motivating as the you might think it would be. It really shatters a person's confidence when someone's bae points out their flaws and tells them to go work on them. It also makes their partner think that their S.O. no longer finds them attractive or desirable (that is, unless they lose a few pounds or bulk up). It might make them believe that their partner finds them lazy and it could even impact the relationship's intimacy levels, causing the person to clam up and feel shy or vulnerable when the moment to be physical with one another presents itself. This phrase often forces the partner in the opposite direction, effecting their stress and might even cause them to eat more or stay in bed all day.

3 "Your Friend Is Hot."

Oh no he di'int. Admitting any sort of attraction to someone's close pal of the same gender is a big, fat no-no. It makes any partner wonder if their love would actually prefer to be with someone else (like their hella hot friend), than with them. It brews up a lot of insecurities in a person and makes them question whether or not they're good enough for their S.O. and if they believe that they can do better. Any relationship it doomed once those secret thoughts are shared, even if they're not being shared directly with their partner. Even if your bae learns of your little preference from someone else, it doesn't make it any better. It'll only make it seem as if you're looking elsewhere AND not being honest. It will also guarantee that you'll never be seeing that hot friend ever again.

2 "Shut Up."

They may be two little words, but they can have such big consequences. "Shut up" is the emotional equivalent of being slapped mid-argument. It completely shuts down the other person, and in a way that can be pretty shocking for its weight of immaturity and impact on the conversation. It not only conveys a lack of respect for what your partner is saying, it devalues them, and plainly suggests that you're not ready to be in a mature relationship. The strongest relationships are ones that are based around open and honest communication, and not the rude and appalling interruption of cutting someone off with "shut up" or a similar, childish phrase. Even if you truly wish your partner would stop talking, there are much more respectful and wise ways to go about saying it.

1 "I Told You So!"

This phrase should almost be entirely eliminated from the English language. It never goes well, whether you're in a relationship or not. Saying these four little words can make people feel like someone is rubbing salt in the wound. When someone makes a mistake or they find out that their judgements about a situation were wrong, it can be a hard hit to their ego. Having that poor judgement pointed out can hurt a lot, especially if it's coming from someone they're dating. The phrase "I told you so." is a statement that indicates that you were right and you S.O. was wrong. Saying it shows them that you care more about being "right" and less about their feelings over the situation. This tells your partner that they don't have your support, they have your criticisms.

Credits: RedbookMag.com