Spread the Word – Love and romance

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Hello! As we’re approaching Saint Valentine’s Day, today’s Spread the Word is dedicated to love and romance.

There is some uncertainty regarding the origin of Valentine’s Day. Some suggest it originated as a Western Christian feast day honouring one or more early saints named Valentius. The day first became associated with romantic love within the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century, when the tradition of courtly love lourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers and sending greeting cards (known as valentines). And now here we are in the present day, where for much of the western world, Valentine’s Day means big business: did you know that approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making it the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas?

So let’s talk about love! Firstly, we’re going to look at some useful collocations, those combinations of words that we all like to use. So what kinds of loves are there? Here are the positives:  great, overwhelming, genuine, pure, real, true, unconditional, eternal and undying – wow, that’s a lot of love! The language isn’t as rich at the more negative end of the scale, but there are still some interesting examples: there’s love that’s unrequited (not returned), which is such a common theme in literature and cinema: here you can see the 50 greatest unrequited love stories ever – from Gone With the Wind to Don Quixote! And then there’s thwarted love, another great source for high drama: you’ve got Romeo and Juliet, separated by their families, a pair of star-crossed lovers. This term, used by Shakespeare in his tragedy, means that the stars are working against the doomed relationship. A more modern example of thwarted love is the movie Titanic, where young Jack and Rose’s love is dramatically defeated by an iceberg.

So it’s all about falling and then being in love; but how much? Deeply, madly, passionately? Desperately or hopelessly? You can also be head over heels in love. It’s definitely sounding less exciting if you refer to a couple as being an item: this simply means there is a romantic relationship. But let’s get back to romance: do you believe in love at first sight? Have you heard of anyone who is or was the love of somebody’s life?  You know, those special relationships where two people are just a match made in heaven? Of course, the cynics would say that such terms are just too lovey-dovey (excessively romantic) or soppy (overly sentimental).

And finally, who doesn’t love a love song? Here’s a new one, Spain’s recently selected Eurovision entry for 2018, Tu canción, sung by Alfred and Amaia, who are in fact a couple – love is definitely in the air!