I wonder what would happen if the word love were banned from our vocabulary. I sometimes feel that our culture cheapens love by applying it to every and any sort of "like" or "affetion" or even "that is pleasant".Love is everywhere. When you hear the word, your ears don't perk up, you don't turn to look, it isn't even romantic. Hearing it from a person very often means that they're either about to try to talk you into something you'd rather not do or they want to obligate you into something.

If we couldn't say it at all, would we put more effort into *showing* the depth of our feeling for the people who mattered most to us? When we did say it, wouldn't it be because it had sat festering in our breast until finally, against the law, the words had to be uttered because you felt them so strongly?

And wouldn't we expand our vocabulary, not only of speech but of actions, to embrace all the variations and nuances of being pleased with a thing or person?