That's men for you/ Padraig O'Morain's guide to men's health: How do you think you would like it, Mister New Man, if your missus came home from work singing the praises of her "office spouse"? How do you think she would react if you came home burbling about how well your office spouse understands you?
The office spouse is a growing phenomenon in the United States, the UK and, I suspect, in Ireland too. The phrase refers to a non-sexual but close relationship between two people of opposite genders in the workplace.
So well established is the concept that a columnist in the Financial Times, which doesn't joke about things like this, announced earlier this year that she was looking for her seventh office spouse.
Even Condoleeza Rice is said to have an office spouse. Yep, it's George Bush. The speculation about their relationship began when she referred to George W as "my husb. . ." at a dinner party.
So what are some characteristics of the office spouse relationship?
Basically, it is made up of two people who work together and respect and like each other.
They talk to each other about events in their personal lives and not just about business matters. They like each other's company. They go to lunch together. They get coffee for each other. Each shares office gossip with the other before they share it with anybody else.
They console each other about the vagaries of their managers and colleagues. They know each other's birthdays and the main events of their family lives.
But if they fancy each other - and they don't have to - they avoid crossing the line into the bedroom.
Needless to say, their colleagues spot all of this and wonder what, if anything, is going on.
They speculate that there might be more to it than an office relationship and they snigger about "pillow talk".
But this doesn't actually bother the office spouses.
While the phrase "office spouse" is fairly new, I would imagine that most people who have worked in big organisations have observed such relationships or have had such relationships themselves.
The office spouse provides a level of warmth, mutual support, respect and affection which might otherwise be lacking in the workplace.
The big question, though, is whether there is a likelihood that the office spouse relationship will spill over into an affair which could end up wrecking marriages.
It seems to me that this kind of relationship is fairly healthy so long as both parties are getting on with their own separate lives outside the office.
But if one of the two is putting his or her outside relationships on hold in the hope of becoming intimate with the office spouse, then what is going on is damaging.
After all, where will you be when the office spouse moves on to a new job?
Keeping the relationship secret, having late dates and dinners, and choosing to spend time outside of work with the office spouse rather than the real spouse are all danger signals.
Texting each other outside of work may also be a sign that the relationship is in danger of tipping over into something more serious. And if you are running into the bathroom or out to the car to text the office spouse, it is time to think of ending the relationship.
Having said that, I am not aware of evidence that the office spouse relationship is especially dangerous.
I suspect many people have got a lot of valuable emotional support over the years from their office spouses without having done anything at all inappropriate.
Human nature being what it is, though, I also have no doubt that some of these relationships have ended in tears.
I am afraid I am not in a position to test out the office spouse phenomenon myself: as a self-employed person, my only colleague at the office is Sheeba, the Scottish terrier.
But if you have got an office spouse and your real spouse is raising objections, you can always argue that what's good enough for Condoleeza Rice and George Bush is good enough for . . . oh, forget it.
Padraig O'Morain is a journalist and counsellor accredited by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.