3 September 2021 – We have an infinite number of words for things like colors, flowers and trees so we can describe exactly what we are referring to. If I told a group of people to each paint a room blue, each one would come back with different blue paint. If I said someone sent me a bouquet of flowers, everyone would see different flowers. And, if I told the arborist I needed help with my trees, he’d ask what kind of trees. These variations of the same thing exist throughout the English language. So, why do we have one word to describe our love for things. I love tacos, I love my parents, I love my husband and I love my friend. We know that these loves are different because of the object of the affection but depending on the circumstances the meaning may get lost in translation. Love is one word with many meanings.

If we want to describe love, we must use adjectives. Most languages have distinct words for different types of love. For example, Greek has four, Japanese has two, Spanish has three, Arabic has at least eleven, Irish has four, Sanskrit has ninety-six and even American Sign Language has two. English has only one. English does have other words that can be used in replace of love but to me they have more specific meanings. Like ‘adore’, ‘fondness’, ‘admire’ and ‘cherish’. The issue is these words are basically synonyms of love instead of being a different degree of love.

There are four types of love described in the Bible. Type one is eros or romantic love. This love is erotic, passionate and romantic. Type two is storge or family love. This love describes the love between parents and children. The third kind is philia or brotherly love. This is love without romantic attraction and occurs between good friends. The fourth kind is agape love or unconditional love. This love is how we love God and our fellow humans. This type of love is the kind Jesus refers to when he tells us to love our neighbors. He is not telling us to hold them and comfort them, he is telling us to be willing to work for their wellbeing even above our own, even if it means leaving them alone.

In English, we have allowed the word love to lose meaning. We use it for everything from pizza to neighbors to strangers to parents to children to friends to lovers. We even say it to people we don’t like very much if they do something that we really appreciate. Like when our least friendly coworker tells us they took care of something that we really don’t want to do, we may say, “Thank you. I love you.” We use the word recklessly but it’s not really our fault. It’s only because it’s the only word we have to express what we are trying to say.

The English language isn’t going to change and I know I am going to keep using the word love for everything. When my emotions are loving or caring, I can’t help but share them. Fortunately, I have many people in my life that I love. I love my parents, my daughters, my true friends, mankind. Unfortunately, I also love reading, tequila, sleeping and many more things. One word with many meanings. By the way, I love you.