Animals React To Bubbles At The Zoo

Why do English speakers say they “love” everything?

English speakers use love much more loosely than many other languages. I love this song. I love pizza. I love your dress. They love the bubbles. In Spanish, that level of casual enthusiasm goes through me encanta (literally it enchants me); German uses mögen or lieben; French keeps adorer or aimer. Romantic I love you is a separate, weightier matter for English speakers, and the same word does both jobs. Learners often hesitate to use love for snacks or movies, but native English speakers reach for it constantly, especially in casual American and British speech.

In this clip, a zookeeper tests which animals enjoy soap bubbles, and at every stop the line is the same: “Oh, they love them.”