The Princess Bride is the Greatest Romance of All Time — Don’t @ Me

The most romantic relationship quiz ever

“As you wish,” is all you ever need to say to the person you’re dating.

Immediately, your person will either understand the reference or they won’t. How their response makes you feel is all you will ever need to know about that relationship.

Part of me wishes there was something more to this so I could stretch it out into a real think-piece, but there isn’t. “As You Wish” is the greatest barometer of romantic success in the pop culture lexicon. And that is because it comes from The Princess Bride, which is the most romantic movie ever made.

The “As You Wish” Decision Matrix is essentially thin-slicing your feelings for a person as a way and weighing those feelings against the depth of your love.

Thin-slicing — a phenomenon explored by Malcolm Gladwell in his book, Blink — is the ability to come to a conclusion based on limited information and a narrow period of experience. This idea suggests that decisions made spontaneously have the same chance of working out as the meticulously considered ones.

It’s the science of gut reaction. Why most gut reactions fail is because we ignore what our best decision-making tool is telling us to do. Romantically, you can’t afford to do that.

The application is simple. Work the phrase, “As You Wish,” into a conversation and thin-slice your partner’s reaction. How their response sits with you is all you need to know about where your relationship is going.

Option One — Best Case Scenario

• Outcome: They have seen The Princess Bride, understood what “As You Wish” means, and appreciate the sentiment.
• Result: You’re golden. Pursue this relationship with the same confidence that Wesley displays in matching wits with a Sicilian when death is on the line.

Option Two — Worst Outcome Imaginable

• Outcome: They have seen the Princess Bride and understood what As You Wish means, and do NOT appreciate the sentiment.
• Result: It’s broken, it’s never going to work, and you both deserve better. Do not continue with this relationship. You’re flinging yourself over the Cliffs of Insanity and into the Pit of Despair.

Option Three — A Road Untraveled

• Outcome: They have NOT seen the Princess Bride and did not understand what “As You Wish” means.
• Result: You now have something fun to do with your beloved. Apply the theory at the earliest opportunity, thin-slice for options one or two, and hope for the best — Wuv. Trwuuuu wuv.

Rob Reiner’s classic 1987 movie, The Princess Bride — the origin story of the As You Wish decision-making process — is the perfect movie to stream on Netflix on Valentine’s Day. One part romance, one part action, and one part comedy, The Princess Bride is among the most watchable and quotable movies ever released. If you’re looking to get swept up in a story and don’t need meet-cutes, miscommunication between lovers, and pop music punctuated montages to enjoy a “romance,” fire this one up.