You're probably familiar with "Ask Reddit," where people can ask pretty much anything. But for especially odd questions, there's "No Stupid Questions," aka the weird younger sibling of Ask Reddit.
Recently, u/Snoo_85416 took to r/NoStupidQuestions to ask, "How do I find out my girlfriend's ring size without tipping her off?"
Over 600 Redditors shared their specific, niche wisdom that really only comes in handy* once in a lifetime (if you're lucky). Here are some of the best responses.
💍 Several people recommended involving a third party.
1. "My mom came up with the idea of 'randomly' calling me and talking about normal stuff on speaker. Then, she was like, 'Oh hey! I was at this store and they had the cutest rings there, and I don't know your ring size!'"
2. "Ask her best friend. You’ll get all the details you need."
"Or, ask her mom. If her parents had purchased any jewelry for her in the past, they would likely know. I asked my future mother-in-law, and she was pretty spot on with the size."
3. "My fiancé had my best friend ask me, 'Do you think it’s weird when girls don’t know what ring size they are?' She then proceeded to tell me her ring size and waited for me to tell mine."
4. "You can estimate to some extent by asking a friend of hers with similar sized fingers."
5. "My husband asked his cousin to try on costume jewelry rings with me when she and I went to NYC. I thought nothing of it because we were on a girls trip shopping and bar hopping! She told me later and thought I caught on — I didn't."
💍 Other people suggested trying on rings with your partner, regardless of whether it's under false pretenses.
6. "TAKE HER RING SHOPPING! It can be something you do randomly while at the mall. Don't be obvious about that being the main reason you go, but start out looking at watches or necklaces and wind up looking for rings.
7. "You can always go into jewelry stores to try things on for both of you, just for fun. You should do that anyway to get an idea of what style and cut she likes rather than just guessing."
8. "Ask her. I had my wife pick out her ring. I just never told her when she was getting it."
9. "This jeweler's website has lots of useful suggestions for figuring out a partner's ring size."
10. "I think it's romantic to propose at a time and place that she isn't aware of. But if you've already discussed getting married, then asking her ring finger size shouldn't be that weird or unexpected. And ask her preferred style! I would be upset if I got no say in the ring that I would be wearing."
💍 Or, use a placeholder during the actual proposal.
11. "Get a placeholder ring to propose with — anything from an heirloom to something fun (since you won't actually be using it). Then, go together to pick out the actual ring.
"I had a friend propose with a ring pop as the placeholder, which his wife found amusing."
12. "If you know her preferred gem, you can always propose by giving her the gem, and then she can have it set to her liking."
💍 If you're dating a deep sleeper, you've entered a whole new world of sneaky ring finger measurement options!
13. "Pre-cut a strip of paper, and wrap/measure it around her finger while she's sleeping!"
14. "When she's asleep, put a hair tie around her finger. Then, put it on yours and mark it."
15. "I used a piece of string while my wife was sleeping to measure her finger; then, I took the string to the jeweler."
"If you do this, it's very important to bring the string in — don't just tell them the length. Since it is a small length with a long curve, a thicker string (or thicker ring) will be a very different size than a thin string (or ring)."
16. "You could go online and purchase a kit that has various sizes of rings on it to get just the right fit."
💍 Or, use another object for reference to make an educated guess. (Warning: Some of these methods involve math.)
17. "Ask her for her size in everything: shoe, sneaker, pants, dress, ring, shirt, hat, bathing suit, whatever. Just say it’s for birthdays, Christmas, etc."
BUT... "For me, this wouldn't work. If it was out of the blue, the ring in that list would stick out like a sore thumb."
18. "Buy a tapered candle. Slide one of her existing rings down the candle to where it's tight but not stuck. Use a knife to mark the candle at the bottom of the ring, then take the candle to the jeweler."
19. "My fiancé grabbed all of my rings one day while I was at work and took them to the jeweler who guessed the size. Also, he told me around Christmas that his grandma wanted to get me earrings, which led to a discussion of which gemstones I like and how I wouldn’t want a big diamond. The ring he picked is gorgeous and perfect."
20. "Take her bowling, and have her try the inserts to see what size she is."
21. "Take her hand, and just play around with it. Hold your ring finger up next to hers and try to guess at how different the size is. Measure your own finger, and then guess at her measurement based on your observation. I did this, and the ring was almost perfectly sized. She had no idea."
22. "I referenced one of her mirror selfies, so I could see her hand and cellphone in the picture. I looked up the phone model's measurements and calibrated the picture via the length/width of the phone. After that, I could measure the diameter of the ring finger in the picture."
💍 More than one unhinged commenter proposed my favorite method: Casually suggest that your adult partner should make a plaster cast of her hand. You know — for fun!
23. "Make a mold of her hands, and measure the mold. Say you saw some funny YouTube video and wanted to try it."
24. "Buy a plaster hand impressions kit. Tell her you're making a key ring holder-type project. (Screw the hands face up on a wooden plaque, and hang near the door for maximum believability.) Then, you can take her hand with you for sizing."
25. "Play a fun game of sticking-your-fingers-into-Play-Doh or something. Then, fill the ring finger hole with something you can measure later, like water (that you then freeze)."
💍 Multiple people suggested pairing a decoy ring with a harmless tall tale.
26. "When I wanted to propose to my wife, my friends said I should buy a cheap silver ring in the size that seemed closest. Then, casually say, 'I found this on the street,' or something similar, and inevitably she would put it on her ring finger.
27. "Get a cheap pinky ring, and say it's an old high school ring. Let her try it on. Men's pinky rings are usually close to a woman's wedding ring size. Guess her real size based on how it fits."
💍 Then, there's always the balls-to-the-wall guesstimation route. (Proceed at your own risk!)
28. "Old hack: ring size = US shoe size."
29. "Google has some good suggestions for sneaky ways to guess, but the average woman wears a size 6 or 7 ring."
💍 Finally, a word of caution:
30. "Once you use one of the methods on this list, check if her knuckles are bigger than the rest of her finger. Sometimes, the ring needs to be the circumference of the largest knuckle."
💍 And if all else fails...
31. "A proper jeweler can resize it for you after you pop the question. We dropped my fiancé's ring off, and they measured her professionally. It took them three days to return it."
H/T r/NoStupidQuestions
Some replies have been edited for length and clarity.