by Josh Anderson

Created on: August 21, 2010   Last Updated: August 22, 2010

To quote Snow Patrol: "those three words, said too much, but not enough" pretty much sums up my opinions on this article in slightly less than 400 words, so I better continue.

Everyone has feelings of love for the important people in their life. They may be a friend who they love the company of, they may be a person they love to make love to, or they may in fact be that special someone who they have truly fallen for, and 'love' is no more than the top of the iceberg of their feelings. So when should we use the word love?

We're all guilty of somewhat throwing the word around. Be it with a group of friends who are great company you may say 'oh I love you guys,' a perfectly reasonable statement, but does it detract some of the meaning when true feelings of love are to be expressed? I would say yes. I fancy myself as a bit of a romantic and use the phrase "I love you" with partners sparingly, and only when I feel like I'm ready to do so. However, I must confess that I too tell people I love them on a daily basis. My friends are constantly receiving my affections through these words and I now fear that in myself I believe them to be almost meaningless, even to a partner.

Modern technology has played a part in all this. It's so much easier to type the three little words than it is to build up the courage to say (and mean) them. How else do you end a text to a new partner? "I love you.xxx" seems more than adequate and I agree that it does show that you care. I mean, we all love to here that we are loved right? But by throwing the words out there early on, we lessen the meaning of them at a stage in the relationship where they are in fact more important than ever. How do you improve on "I love you" ? I guess the phrase "I'm in love with you" is the only thing that can compete, but this is not really a substitute as it is certainly not a phrase to be thrown around lightly, and it is one that is even harder to be able to say to a partner.

We mustn't forget than love isn't restricted to partners. We all have love within our families, and this is where I believe the words to be at their most important. It never goes amiss to tell your family how much you love them. Sure you can show them any time of day with something as simple as a cup of tea. But our families are there for us through so much that I think they deserve more than that, they deserve to be told whenever the opportunity arises, because if you miss the chance to tell them how much you love them, you may never get it back.

"Those three words, said too much, but not enough" really does sum it up. Sure we can throw the words around, we can tell our friends how much we 'love' them. But that phrase, that simple three-word phrase, for however much it's used, the real meaning is so often lost.

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