Stupid in Love
Cringeworthy relationship clichés, from the start of a romance to the bitter end.
“Love is fair. It breaks everybody’s heart.”
Thank you, Miss Barbara Mandrell. You offered some of the truest words ever spoken, or sung, about love on your 1981 country single. (Sorry, Sade. “Nothing can come between us” is purely wishful thinking.)
It was a unique assessment with a surprise twist — and considerably more resonant and dead accurate than all the clichés we tend to drop when love walks in and after it’s gone. Love doesn’t do double standards: It touches all of us all, and it devastates us all.
Despite my cynicism about love in general (is there a more overused and abused word in the English language?), I do believe it can lead to happily ever after. What I don’t buy is the florid and hackneyed prose it often inspires. Some particularly annoying examples…
“Soulmate”/“Love of my life”
Love is not only fair; it inspires flashy hyperbole. I love the idea of a soulmate, and I believe I’ve found mine — though I don’t think I’ve ever called him that out loud. But if we only get one, every great love can’t be a soulmate. And what happens when the honeymoon is over? Does a soulmate-turned-ex remain the love of your life even after…
