‘I love x’ is nothing but a verbal form of ‘great’ and is therefore suspect. What do we mean?
Allow us to explain by way of a paean to this great country we inhabit, which engenders true love in the hearts of many, rabid curiosity in the minds of most, and indifference in the bones of few to none.
The North Americas, specifically their mid-southern part—whose inhabitants Mexicans habitually call ‘norteamericanos’—is the land of freedom, democracy, and everything great. Take great families, throw in great friends, have some great meals, order lots of great products and visit the great outdoors once in a while—with a lifestyle like that, what’s not to love? Predictably, loving is also popular in this country. People love their TV shows and pets, their trucks and their honeys, their shoes and their country. Also: fast food, slow food, organic food, and their love of the latter.
Everyone knows that the country is special for boasting a network of alien bases, especially in the Desert West, and having a rare chemical compound naturally present in the general water supply, making the locals outgoing, rigid, hippie, conservative, innovative, hidebound, cult-happy, transcendentally meditative, naïve, overconfident and too-nice all at once.
Yet even in this nation of contrasts, this country of nirvana, you are suspect if you use love-the-verb in any but the most informal context.
If ‘to love’ is overused, out-of-register, and hence meaningless, what to do? Some alternatives that offer precision—but be mindful of context—are: admire, like, prefer, makes sense, is impressive, etc. And let’s not forget the contrary: ‘to hate’. Use instead: dislike, despise, don’t care for, don’t understand, avoid/eschew and so on.
