What He Says, What He Means.

You're sitting across the table from him. Or lying in bed with him. And he's talking. It sounds like English. It looks like English. And, yet, the meaning of his words still has you scratching your head.

Cracking the code to his secret guy language can be difficult. But not impossible, if you have our handy guide.

He Says: We should hang out sometime.
He Means: I want to ask you out.
He doesn't want to risk rejection by asking you flat out, so he's gauging your interest in a more subtle way. This way, if you're not interested, you can pull away without having to turn him down - and crush his ego.

He Says: I really like your...
He Means: I really like you.
Maybe he does love that color on you, or those cute new slingbacks. But if he tells you he loves what you're wearing early on, he's just trying to tell you he thinks you're hot - without sounding like a sleaze.

He Says: I don't want to do the whole couple thing.

He Means: Can't we just keep having sex without having a relationship?

It sucks, but it's all too common: he wants to keep his options open or have it both ways. Popular alternatives to this line are Maybe we should take a break or I need some time.

He Says: We had this thing going for awhile.
He Means: We were having sex.
There are friends, there are girlfriends, and then there's that hook-up category.

He Says: You're too good for me.
He Means: I want out.
More specifically, he means I want out of this relationship, but I want you to feel good about it. Guys, if you haven't noticed, aren't real big on the talk-about-our-feelings breakup speech. So to avoid it, he's hoping you'll be convinced you can do better.