Originally Posted by AtlUmpSteve

I use one of two stock responses to "I'm just talking to ...., not you", depending on the level of the game.

If a youth game, I have been known to tell the coach that his explanation meant that I was equally permitted to talk to my partner within the hearing of his parents, and that I was considering telling my partner that I heard he had been having an affair with one of the mothers on his team, and that we should see if we could pick out which one by looking at which player he treated better than the others. For good measure, I might wonder if the stories about the child being included were true.

In a more adult setting, I have been known to say that meant that I could verbalize to my partner what I thought about him and his team, as long as I wasn't talking to him directly, and that would certainly be okay with him, I was sure.

In all cases, I make sure they understand that they were accountable for anything said loud enough to be heard; in a way that absolutely gets their attention.