“Relationships don’t last because of the good times… They last because the hard times were handled with love and care.”

Anmol Andore, an Indian writer

As this year’s Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, we’d like to talk about love 💓 and teach you some vocabulary related to it. If you are interested in the topic, and we sincerely hope you are, read on…

Love at first sight

John: Many people say love at first sight is a myth, but I have a different view on this. I know it all starts with infatuation, and in the beginning you can’t be sure if it’s really love or just attraction, but as time passes you start to understand your feelings better, and it may be not just a crush but love. So, if you are pulled towards someone, give it a try. If you don’t, you might miss out on something precious.

• Infatuation – a strong feeling of love that seems silly, especially because you do not know the other person very well: 1) She’s behaving like an infatuated teenager. 2) I’m infatuated with a man at work.
• Crush – a feeling of love and admiration for someone, often someone you know you cannot have a relationship with: 1) I used to have a massive crush on my geography teacher. 2) I’m just a girl with a crush on you.
• If you are pulled towards someone, you are attracted to them: 1) I feel a strong and undeniable pull towards him. 2) When I’m with her, I feel the pull.
• To give something a try – to do something in order to find out what happens or to find out whether something is good, suitable, effective, etc.: 1) Tony’s planning to give skiing a try this winter. 2) You should give this love a try.
  
• To miss out on something – to lose an opportunity to do or have something: 1) You miss out on what’s great when you settle for good. 2) I wouldn’t want to miss out on something amazing.

Jane: I’m a deep thinker and follow my head rather than heart, so personally I don’t believe in love at first sight. How on earth can you fall in love with someone after just looking at them? I do believe in attraction though. I think it’s perfectly possible and common to get butterflies without even knowing the person you are pulled towards. Your heart may sink at the though of never seeing them again, or it might start racing, but after all it’s not love.

• Deep thinker – a person who has remarkably intelligent or profound thoughts: 1) Deep thinkers are super curious about the world around them. 2) Not everyone is capable of deep thinking.
• If you follow your heart, you act according to your feelings. If you follow your head, you act rationally: 1) It is okay to follow your heart, but it’s not safe to do so when you are feeling extremely happy or sad. 2) In matters of love, should you follow your heart or your head?
• “On earth” is an intensifier used to emphasize surprise, shock, anger, disgust, etc.: 1) How on earth did you become so cruel? 2) What on earth were you thinking?
• To get/have/feel butterflies (in your stomach) – to feel very nervous or excited about something that you have to do, especially something important: 1) Falling in love gives you butterflies. 2) Why do you get butterflies in your stomach when you like someone?
• If your heart sinks, you suddenly feel very worried, upset, or disappointed: 1) My heart sank when I saw that the meal I’d spent all day preparing had burned in the oven. 2) My heart sank when I realized I would have to walk home in the rain.

Love on the rocks

If your relationship is on the rocks, it is having serious difficulties and is likely to fail soon. How do you deal with this?

Mary: It’s the rare couple that doesn’t run into a few bumps in the road. In my experience, all relationship problems stem from poor communication. To solve them, we must be intentional about spending time together talking and avoid mind reading.

• If you run into problems or difficulties, you start having them: 1) Our project ran into difficulties when we lost a sponsor. 2) We’ve run into trouble.
• Bump in the road – something, usually something not very serious, that delays a process or prevents it from developing: 1) “All these bumps in the road are just there to make you fly.” (Tamara Geraeds) 2) Don’t worry, all these bumps in the road will be smoothed over.
• To stem from something – to be caused by something: 1) Many of her problems stem from her family. 2) His popularity stemmed from the fact that he was born in the area.
• If you are intentional about something, you are serious about doing something and you really want to do it: 1) We must be very intentional about how we manage our business. 2) We should be intentional about self-development.

Joe: When you enter a rough patch in your relationship, don’t panic and don’t give up. Chances are there is a way to rebuild a relationship that is falling apart. First off, get brutally honest with your partner, but still choose your words carefully not to hurt their feelings. Don’t threaten them with a breakup, but try to be as open as possible. Remember that communication is the key.

• If you have or go through a rough patch, you have a lot of problems for a time: 1) His marriage was going through a rough patch. 2) We were happy until we hit a rough patch.
• First off = first of all: 1) First off, I want to tell you how much I like your work. 2) First off, huge apologies for last month’s report.
• If you are brutally honest, you are extremely honest, in a way that seems unkind: 1) Let’s be brutal here – he’s not good enough. 2) The brutal truth is that you’re too young.

Practice

Click the link here and match the parts of the idioms from this article.

Click the link here and match the parts of the sentences.

May your love life be happy and harmonious! Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️

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