# What does "I love you to death" mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853 "2013-08-22T04:13:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/1 "2013-08-22T04:13:14Z")
Just heard it on TV. Does it mean I will love you until one of us dies, then not so much? Seems like a strange expression. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/2 "2013-08-22T04:54:15Z")
Just hyperbole. “I love you to pieces. I could just eat you up.” ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/3 "2013-08-22T04:57:26Z")
it’s cannibal love. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/4 "2013-08-22T05:02:44Z")
Yeah, like\*\* Trinopus\*\* says, it’s just hyperbole. I first heard it from a hillbilly and it’s seems to have made its way into the mainstream vernacular. Don’t particularly care for it myself because it sounds kind of creepy but I can live with it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/5 "2013-08-22T05:10:43Z")
In this usage, “to death” means “extremely.” Originally hyperbole in more understandable phrases like “he’s going to work us to death” and “you scared me to death,” it’s been appropriated by phrases where the feeling (something like “as much as I can stand”) is the same even if the literal meaning is way off. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/6 "2013-08-22T06:14:04Z")
It sounds better than “I love you so much I could just shit.” ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/7 "2013-08-22T08:54:17Z")
To quote a 15 year old girl (or any sane individual, for that matter)… “EWWWWWWWW!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/8 "2013-08-22T10:40:00Z")
It’s TO, not TILL. As in, my love will cause you to die. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/9 "2013-08-22T12:47:04Z")
Is it not a contraction of “I love you **unto** death?” Thus it is simply “I love you until death?” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/10 "2013-08-22T12:53:36Z")
It’s the first part of a morbid kid’s Valentine’s Day card. I love you to death from pat ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/11 "2013-08-22T13:41:52Z")
“crazy” ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/12 "2013-08-22T15:00:04Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Is it not a contraction of “I love you **unto** death?” Thus it is simply “I love you until death?” I doubt it. It’s hyperbole, as Trinopus pointed out, originating in phrases where it makes more sense, as Gary T says. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/13 "2013-08-22T15:25:32Z")
It’s a compliment, and it means you really Really REALLY love them! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/14 "2013-08-22T16:50:02Z")
Moved to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Nom\_de\_Plume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85f322/32.png) [@Nom\_de\_Plume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nom_de_Plume)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/15 "2013-08-22T16:59:48Z")
It could be a reference to a very funny Kevin Kline/Tracey Ullman movie - [I Love You to Death (1990) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099819/) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/16 "2013-08-22T17:56:22Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > It’s a compliment, and it means you really Really REALLY love them! I agree, but I also agree with **Peanuthead** that it’s creepy, and I would never say it. Or if I did say it, I’d say the “to death” part in a deep, booming voice. Maybe followed up by an evil laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/17 "2013-08-23T05:20:54Z")
nm. ---
**Author:** ![KDS444](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kds444/32/20294_2.png) [@KDS444](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KDS444)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/18 "2025-11-26T12:33:38Z")
The phrase, “I love you to death” is often followed by the conjunction “but…” and then a comment on something about the person that you do NOT particularly love. Here, the hyperbole becomes an entrance into a kind of criticism. “I love you to death, but you need to learn to be more patient with other drivers.” It assures the listener (perhaps falsely) that they can take the criticism to heart, that the speaker does not want to hurt the listener’s feelings with the criticism. How sincerely this is meant will depend entirely on the history of the people involved. It’s not a phrase that non-native English speakers should probably use because it is so subtle and complicated in actual meaning. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/19 "2025-11-26T16:22:03Z")
It means “I will love you until I die.” i.e. “I love you unto death.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853/20 "2025-11-28T01:09:19Z")
Ted Bundy’s pickup line. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-i-love-you-to-death-mean/666853.md?page=2)