Love and Money
A matter of linguistics?
All of us want, need, seek and like love and money. (Of course, there must be exceptions here and there. Too few to matter, you will agree.)
But then, are love and money equally powerful? Can love do all that money can and vice versa?
Love elevates and humbles; inspires and motivates; strengthens and weakens. Yes, love can do many things. All of us have experienced and witnessed its power in myriad ways.
Money, arguably, can do a lot of things, too. Examples are aplenty, and enumeration superfluous.
There is but one difference between them.
Love is, like money, a noun; but it is also, unlike money, a verb.
Love has an object, a purpose. I love you. I love you because you are so unselfish and generous.
Love is active, and promotes the good. I love Nature, and plant trees. I love jogging, and keep myself fit.
As a transitive verb - I love you - it is tireless and beautiful. In its intransitive form, it is absolutely sublime. Humans love. Animals love. Birds love. Even ‘I love' sounds like ‘I breathe' and ‘I enjoy', doesn't it?
Can that be said of money? You don't say "I money ...". It makes no sense, because money is not a verb. The strange derivative ‘moneyed', employed as an adjective, is inelegant, and a poor substitute for ‘rich' and ‘wealthy'. The plural ‘monies' is downright ugly and, thankfully, rarely used.
Discarding prejudices and at the risk of being thought of as mercenary, one can even say ‘I love money' and make sense. But can one say ‘I money love' and even begin to make any sense?
