Sam:"Would you know what I meant if I said 'I love you. I'm not saying it--I'm asking how good a language course you got before you left home."
Rachel: "Good enough to treat that phrase like an armed bomb. According to my dictionary, it has dozens of mutually exclusive meanings, and guessing the one or ones intended is terribly important."
Sam: "That's one reason why I never use the word."
Rachel: "It can mean, 'I will meet your price for sex,' or 'I am fond of you,' or 'Your happiness is essential to my own,' or 'I claim ownership of you,' or 'I feel that I am or could be your other half.' Are any of those close, Sam?"
Sam: "Uh--yes to one and two. Emphatic no to three, four and five. I'll have sex with you whenever we both want to. I don't mind if you have sex with others as long as you keep the noise down when I'm trying to sleep. ...I don't think anybody's happiness is essential to my own. I don't keep slaves. I don't think half of me is missing. I will be your friend. I'll keep your secrets..."
Spider Robinson, Time Pressure