The difference between saying 'I love you' and...

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  • dougt333
    dougt333 Posts: 697
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    It's just linguistics.
    In Cherokee you only say I love....it is assumed that the person you love is the one you are talking to otherwise you would finish the sentence. Like "I love lamp."
  • runzalot81
    runzalot81 Posts: 782 Member
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    Who cares. Cleaning the kitchen or scrubbing a toilet is way better than words. Choreplay!
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
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    love you, mean it.
  • pixtotts
    pixtotts Posts: 552 Member
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    i kind of have a scale in my head... lowest to highest...

    love you/ loves you is lowest because its something id say to friends
    i like you, is as far as it ever got with my last boyfriend.. i was with him 3 years...
    i love you rolled round my mind a few times but never made it out... the next step more of a declaration
    im in love with you ...thats it... thats the big one... I have yet to utter or even think this one...

    but thats just me :D
    x
  • Dad_of_3
    Dad_of_3 Posts: 517 Member
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    The first person personal singular pronoun "I" makes all the difference in the world. Words matter. "Love you" carries meaning, and is a great reminder that I love a person. However, when I say " 'I' love you", there is emphasis on the fact that I, a particular person, love this other particular person, and am actually experiencing the feelings of emotional love and attachment, for that other person. When I say "love you", it is usually a parting greeting. When I say "I love you" to my wife, I am expressing to her that at that moment I am taking the time to say she matters, I value her, and I love her.

    Yes, one single-letter word matters. Very much.
  • tootsanderson
    tootsanderson Posts: 1,636 Member
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    it actually makes so little difference to me how it's said that i don't actually know which my husband says. or even which i say, for that matter.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Yes, you are over-thinking. Usually if hubby says, "I love you" first, then I respond, "love you too!" or "ditto, baby." Love is not about what you say, but about how you act and the things you do.
  • Bethie_B
    Bethie_B Posts: 292 Member
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    Oh, it totally matters!

    I mean, if it's being said or typed to me and it doesn't come in this format: I looooooooove you!!!!!!

    Well, then clearly, I can tell that the person has absolutely no real affection for me whatsoever.
  • sh4690
    sh4690 Posts: 169 Member
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    I don't know why, but I think the less I hear it the more I appreciate it.

    Completely different from my friend, she has a constant need for her partner to tell her he loves her and that he thinks she is beautiful etc etc. Also she asks him to say it (I have told her I find this pathetic) "Tell me I'm beautiful, tell me you love me". Urgh pass me the sick bucket. When I am around it is like he says it to her like 'I love you' just to get her off his back, pretty bad like.

    Me, I don't mind not hearing it every day, and I certainly won't ASK them to tell me. Like I said, I appreciate it more the less I hear it, I also believe them more when they say it off their own back and not because I have asked them to :)
  • 76tech
    76tech Posts: 1,455 Member
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    Words are only that, words. "Love you" "I love you" Whatever. The difference is how they're said. Someone can say something as simple as "good morning" and it means so very much more than someone else saying "I love you"

    Verbal communication is only one part of the equation. And it's a smaller part than some people realize.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    "I love you" feels more direct and intimate. There's nothing wrong with saying "love you", though. It's more casual, though I don't think it's necessarily dismissive. Anyway, you should probably know how the person feels without having to pay that much attention to whether or not there's an "i" in the phrase.
  • Stompp
    Stompp Posts: 216
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    Yes, you're over thinking it... Now if it was always
    You: "I love you!"
    SO: "uh huh", "sure", "you too", nothing

    THEN Maybe you have something to b!tch about...

    Love you is shorter, with an implied subject of "I" and is even mostly passable grammar-wise. Also, if it's not, start a grammar war in here, it'd be more entertaining than getting all worried over a single syllable.
  • MrsPong
    MrsPong Posts: 580 Member
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    I cupped her face in my hands, looked deep into her eyes and siad....I f***ing love you.


    From the soul people.


    Exactly what my husband would say..... BAHAHA
  • idwolf
    idwolf Posts: 2
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    It's not healthy to look for problems where none exist. If someone is willing to save "love you" then be grateful. If they are not showing affection towards you, then you need to address that problem head on, but someone can be just as cold when they say, "I love you".

    The problem isn't in the words, it is in the use. We're all capable of seeing whether our loved ones are putting any effort behind the words they say. So, unless you are dealing with a sociopath, you should be able to tell whether the person with which you care, cares for you back.
  • 76tech
    76tech Posts: 1,455 Member
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    And "love you" sure beats "bite the pillow and brace yourself"
  • tashjs21
    tashjs21 Posts: 4,584 Member
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    I say " love you" allot to my husband (we tell each other several times a day, at random times)
    I don't see a difference from "I love you" vs "love you" just the way I say it

    ^ This.

    We say it so many times throughout the day that sometimes (like when one of us is heading out the door) we'll shorten it to "Love you" But we still say 'I love you' as well.

    I think it would bother me if I was only hearing 'love you'. :huh:
  • Bethie_B
    Bethie_B Posts: 292 Member
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    And "love you" sure beats "bite the pillow and brace yourself"

    I don't know that I agree with you on that....
  • marieautumn
    marieautumn Posts: 932 Member
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    I think you're over thinking. A lot.

    this. if you have to think that much about it, you must be a real chore to be around. :drinker:
  • sexyrosey
    sexyrosey Posts: 137
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    Yes, you're over thinking it... Now if it was always
    You: "I love you!"
    SO: "uh huh", "sure", "you too", nothing

    THEN Maybe you have something to b!tch about...

    Love you is shorter, with an implied subject of "I" and is even mostly passable grammar-wise. Also, if it's not, start a grammar war in here, it'd be more entertaining than getting all worried over a single syllable.

    Good god she was just asking a question. You must have an awesome girlfriend though :tongue:
  • FrozenTundra511
    FrozenTundra511 Posts: 206 Member
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    I think you're over thinking. A lot.

    agreed

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