Decouple: (v) to cause to become separated; uncouple

I am always ready to consider a new name for an old idea.

Sometimes it’s just healthy.

For instance, I wouldn’t mind if we changed the word “sin” to “oopser.” It’s cute and devoid of condemnation.

Lying certainly is in line to receive a new identity.

We’re already working on it with “misspoken” and “misheard.” But I think we can do better than that. Instead of referring to it as lying, we could just call it envisioning. There you go. That would feel so much better.

And since the words “break-up” and “divorce” can sound quite foul, especially in unfriendly company, it’s a damn good time to come up with “decouple.” And leave it to Hollywood to take the forefront on this ingenious evolution. Yes, young couples in Southern California now “decouple” instead of bust apart.

Actually, it has a bit of a seductive tone to it, which hangs in the air for a moment after it’s spoken, and we imagine people disengaging from one another—slowly separating their parts to individual identities.

“Decoupled” works.

We will do nearly anything to prove that we did not make a mistake.

And if we can cause a divorce to seem like the careful breaking apart of an Oreo, to share with a friend, then so much the better.

Yet, I don’t know if you can call exploding the romance between two people–which begins with them clawing at each other, then breathlessly panting on a bed–as a decoupling.

But hats off to those who wish to try.

There you go–maybe that would be a better phrase.

“My wife and I have decided from this point on, to be hats off.”