You don't have to be conservative with/to me.

[B45]

You don't have to be conservative with/to me.

Are both useable?

 

[Raymott]

You don't have to be conservative with/to me.

Are both useable?

What does it mean?

 

[B45]

What does it mean?

My friend is very shy and conservative even after being friends with me for nearly 4 years. So, I say:

You don't have to be conservative with/to me.

Are both okay?

 

[SoothingDave]

With

 

[bhaisahab]

"You don't have to be conservative with/to me." Would that be a natural thing to say in AmE, Dave? It would sound very strange in BrE.

 

[SoothingDave]

No, it's not terribly natural. But I know what he means. "Reserved" would be a better word.

 

[Barb_D]

I guess I would understand it to mean "It's okay to curse or talk about your sex life with me."
If I wanted to say something that meant this, I'd probably say "You know, it's okay to loosen up some with me."

Edited to fix typo

 

[MikeNewYork]

"Loose" or "loosen"?

 

[Raymott]

"You don't have to be conservative with/to me." Would that be a natural thing to say in AmE, Dave? It would sound very strange in BrE.

To me, it might mean, "You don't have to pretend to be a member of the NRA, a committed Christian, and opposed tooth and nail to Obama's healthcare policies." Naturally, the political environment would change the actual details of the sentence. I agree with Dave that 'reserved' is a much better word, or 'reticent'.
Or you could frame it in a positive sense: "You can be more open with me" or something to that effect.

 

[emsr2d2]

I agree with the final part of Raymott's post. I would say "You do know that you can completely relax with me, don't you?" or something. It would be interesting to know what behaviour your friend does/doesn't exhibit in order for you to state that they are "conservative" with you.