“I love you”, “I luv you”, “I <3 you”. No matter how people spell it, say it, or use it, these words are becoming commonly misused, which creates an obscurity of the word itself. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word love “is a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person…attraction that includes sexual desire in a romantic way.” The word “love,” however, can be mistaken for the strength that the emotion is supposed to have, which creates a misnomer within itself. What was supposed to be the most meaningful, heartfelt word in the English language, a word supposed to arouse our emotions, has become widely misused and increasingly inconsequential. People tend apply the word “love” to everyday things. The average teen can be quoted as saying that they love their phone, but loving a lifeless object deviates greatly from the original meaning and is not nearly the same as appreciating it for its convenience and aesthetics. “We apply [love] to physical objects and materialistic things because love is a very subjective word,” said Mrs. Ruether, ceramics teacher. Considering its dictionary meaning, it is surprising to see how popular the word has become. The more readily available something is, it is expected it to be less desirable; in this case, the word has become less special. People still commonly overuse it, but a word which evokes such strong emotions appears to have lost its true meaning. “Unless you’re in a legitimate relationship or really love someone you shouldn’t use the term loosely unless you really feel it,” said senior Marlynna Blumer. The reason for this misuse, however, is widespread and not limited to people in relationships. “There are times when we say it out of habit and times when people don’t really mean it,” said Ruether. But just like most words in the English language, it doesn’t require much thought. When asked what the word means to them, several ardently replied, “Love is when someone loves another person for who they are,” unable to reply without using the word “love” in their definition. "It’s that simple four letter word that everyone mindlessly refers to,” said junior Bryanna Jones. Even when focusing on everyday teen relationships, “love” seems like a word that is used to fill a space within a relationship. Junior Jaime Fields and his girlfriend have been dating for a year and a half and the word is thrown around just because they’ve been together for “a long time,” according to Fields. Not only did he say it because he felt that it was “just the right time,” but also because “she told [him] first.” “I knew I loved him when I got the feeling that he cared about me,” said Field’s girlfriend, Regina Artison, sophomore. “It’s basically spending time with each other and talking. You grow a mutual feeling for one another.” The bigger question then becomes, does sex predicate the use of the word “love?” When teens throw the word around to their partner, it adds a new “fire” to the relationship. “Sex does not come with love,” said Fields. “There’s another word for that, which is ‘lust’.” Valentine’s Day might be another excuse for people to overuse and misuse the word “love”, but it’s also the perfect time designated for people to show love and not just say it. Though people might have their own connotations of certain words, they should think before they speak, because they may not actually mean what they say.