Squeak,
Thanks for the clarification. As I said, not all of us are talmidei chachamim. Some of us (like me) are just plain stupid.
Nonetheless, I’m not sure I see how applying this to our topic changes anything.
The Mishna says (my paraphrase): Don’t talk excessively with a woman. This means your wife, kal v’chomer another woman.
Applying your principle, the restrictions against a wife cannot be stronger than those regarding another woman — but they can be equal, no?
The Wolf