Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, my mind has wandered to synonyms for the word Love. When I opened my thesaurus, I was surprised to see a shorter list than I would have expected for such an important word.
As I perused down the page I realized that English can be a somewhat limited language for a writer when it comes to available choices for certain nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
Here's the list of other words a writer can use for the word Love:
Nouns: accord, affection, beloved, benevolence, endearment, friendship, liking, regards, sexuality, virtue.
Verbs: be fond of, desire, enjoy, have deep feelings, savor.
I have a difficult time believing that the English language is limited to the above choices for the word Love - and they're not even synonyms! However, according to my Roget's International Thesaurus, that's it.
This is a great lesson as to why we're admonished to show, not tell: We have so few choices anyway! But seriously, the feelings we each have when we give, or receive love, are as individual as the candies in a box of chocolates. (Excuse the cliché.) Penning the sensory feelings that change in a person's being when she experiences love will always be the writer's best method to infuse emotion into her manuscripts.
And lastly, just in case you're wondering how to write the word Love
in another language, click here for one hundred translations.
Happy writing, and Happy Valentine's Day!
