We have been deluded into believing that romance lies solely along linear planes, a one-dimensional existence between characters we are nothing like, and worlds we will never live in— but love does not have to be exactly like it is in the movies. And that’s a good thing.
We either take ourselves way too seriously or not seriously enough, and we have that very typical human quality of assuming that whatever works best for us will work best for everyone else.
At the end of every year, a bunch of smart people with linguistics and English degrees (or just a keyboard and an electronic soapbox) announce their “word of the year.” Geoff Nunberg is a name you...
