Anita Abrams, a chartered clinical psychologist and associate fellow of the British Psychological Society, reckons that, if done in good faith, public chastising can be entirely innocent. Provided, that is, that you’re making fun of a person’s well-known 'foible' – a characteristic that’s widely known within your group of friends, and cherished. “Like if your friend is pregnant and she’s ribbing the father about how inept he’s going to be because really everyone knows it’s the opposite”, Anita explains. However, making fun of your S.O. in public could start to be a problem if it’s happening regularly, or if the comments have a nasty undertone. “If it’s frequent and they’ve brought it up with you and you still continue then I think that’s a really serious issue,” says Caroline, adding that, deep down, you probably do know when you’re on dodgy ground. “If someone has an issue about their weight and you’re making jokes about it then that’s just plain cruel. It’s one thing to take the piss if the person does it themselves but if it’s something they have an issue with then I hear alarm bells.” When this happens, is it time to question your relationship? Surprisingly not, says Anita. Instead, it’s time to take a long, hard look at yourself and “reevaluate how grown-up you are”. Sure, it is possible that there are issues between the two of you that need addressing, but the first step is to remember that “a relationship is fed by two people” and you need to assess whether or not you’re doing your share. “If you don’t reevaluate your strategy you’re just going to repeat it and be constantly disrupting relationships as soon as you feel the slightest discomfort.” At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to what sort of couple you are. Some couples thrive on taking the piss out of each other, while some are more sensitive. The way to determine this is, unsurprisingly, via communication. As I get older, I realise this is the answer to nearly all relationship problems. “Raise it properly,” advises Caroline. “If your relationship is good then you know when not to cross the line. If someone is consistently doing it and pushing buttons on purpose then there’s a chance you need to be questioning the relationship.” So, will I continue to make fun of my partner in public? Probably. But realistically, it says more about me and my social insecurities than anything about how well the relationship is going. Added to this, people are perceptive – they're (hopefully) reading the situation in exactly that way, meaning their laughs are more to make me comfortable than to join in with the ribbing of my boyfriend. But just to be on the safe side – and in the name of embracing communication – I should probably mention all this to my boyfriend, just to check we're on the same page. Because that, my friend, is what adulting looks like.