In 2015, researchers at the University of Glasgow found that Scots have 421 terms to describe their country’s wintry conditions, including “snaw” (snow), “sneesl” (to begin to rain or snow) and “skelf” (a large snowflake).
Many languages also have multiple words for “LOVE.” For instance, Spanish has four, Japanese has two, Arabic has four, Greek has four, American Sign Language has two, Tamil has five, Irish has four, and even Sanskrit has five.
In English, the one word LOVE may mean many things and it gets bandied about for a wide variety of things. I love my wife. I love my dog. I love hotdogs. I love the Texas Rangers. I love apple pie. I love the crisp days of fall. It takes the form of “I love you,” “love ya'” “ILY,” or a heart emoji.
Somehow familiarity and casual use waters down the richness of the meaning of “I love you” when said to a spouse or significant other.
A delightful and thoughtful way to make I Love You more meaningful is to add a “because___________________________________”
- You’re so darn cute
- You are such a good cook
- You keep our house so nice and clean
- You always shower and are clean when we go to bed
- You are serious about your personal Bible study
- You have such a tender heart
- You work so hard to love all our children
- You love puppies as much as I do
- You have such a cute butt
- You love me
- You said yes when I asked you to marry me
- You can find things I can never find
- You work hard at having girlfriends
- You make our yard so pretty with the flowers you plant
- You love sitting on the front porch with me in the evenings
- You love the same friends I do
- You like going to Disney
- You like to take turns planning anniversaries
- You take such good care of Uncle Jerry and Aunt Fran
- You ask me the morning question almost every day
- I know I can ask you for nearly anything and have a reasonable expectation of being able to get it.
- You pray for me every day
- You build me up to other people
- You have such a forgiving spirit…especially toward me
- You put up with me
Try it…you’ll like it and so will he or she.
