Early Relationship Chicken, as featured in The Rough Patch and 46 Minutes, explained by Future Ted to be a phase in every early relationship.
In The Rough Patch, it was only called "relationship chicken" and was referred to Robin and Barney's persistence to not admitting that they are not happy, making them look like "a fat guy and old lady".
In 46 Minutes, it is described as the phase where you don't say "no" to anything because you want to seem interesting, adventurous, and open-minded. Robin and Kevin play "Early Relationship Chicken" until they admit they don't like it.
