I was hounding my friend Paula yesterday about her love life, and accusing her of having a crush on pretty much every boy on her Twitter feed — because I’m just really annoying that way sometimes. :)

Of course she DENIED liking any of my suspects (yeah, right), so I told her I’d have to put her through the LOVE SMILE TEST. She had no idea what that was, so AHA! We have another Reader Request!

The Love Smile Test was a ridiculous but sometimes surprisingly accurate method my friends and I used to employ back when we were idiotic teenagers, to confirm our suspicions that someone was crushing on someone else.

Even when your suspicions are totally off, it’s still a really hilarious way to spend a few minutes, so if you want to try it out, here’s how to administer it:

1. Corner the suspected crusher. You may or may not warn him that you are about to subject him to the LOVE SMILE test — it’s up to you.

2. Tell suspected crusher not to smile, no matter what you say or do.

3. State your intentions. 

4. In a serious (or bored, or accusatory - whatever) manner, start calling out names of people you’re sure he doesn’t like. (The more outlandish the possibility, the better.)

5. When you finally state the name of the suspected object of his affections, switch to a singsong voice, drawing her name out to multiple syllables, in the cheesiest way you can. (You can do a little dance to match if you think this will help. Or tickle him. Whatever it takes, just do it.).

If you do it right, he won’t be able to help himself. He will break into the LOVE SMILE — or start cracking up. Either way, you’ll have your answer. 

Ridiculous, I tell you. But oh, so much fun. :D

Go try it out! The Love Smile never lies. (Okay fine, it does, but it’s still a blast anyway.)

And Paula, now that you know - be prepared. ;)