hearing that has never made me frown, and i'm not scared of it at all. i am very much into open communication, and i don't want anyone in my life to feel afraid of telling me anything, and loving me is included. i would also like to think that i can tell anyone in my life that i love him/her without it being misunderstood or frightening. it seems to me that, if i say that and it scares the other person, something is wrong with the relationship. the only time it can be misconstrued is when i love my male friends in a non-romantic way and they interpret it otherwise, but i don't think that's happened. right now i love a guy in my life very much, but thinking of doing anything romantic/sexual with him is a yucky thought, to say the least (no offense) ! he's gay anyway, so i'm not afraid of things ever getting confused between us. that makes it all very wonderfully comfortable. i do, however, hate when people just throw the word, "love" out casually. it means a great deal to me, and i only say it to people i really do love. i don't love all of my friends, i don't even love everyone in my family. for me, it's a very strong bond. when people cheapen the word, it really gets to me .