Reader question: Please explain this sentence: It is a fine line between love and hate. My comments: In other words, sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which. Love and hate are feelings occupying the opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. On the surface, they’re different as different can be. They’re as different as day and night, having nothing in common. And yet, in actuality, if you care to watch the sunset one afternoon and observe exactly when day morphs into the night, you may find it a difficult task. Just exactly when does daylight changes into darkness? At 18:09:45? Or a few ticks before? Or after. See what I mean? It’s a fine line. “Fine” means thin and small. We talk of fine threads and they’re threads so thin that we can hardly distinguish one from another. We’ve been talking a lot about fine dusts this winter. By that we are not saying that they’re good as we talk of someone as a fine fellow or that we’re fine (OK and comfortable) with the air. On the contrary, by “fine dust” we are talking about those small, tiny pollutants in the air and we’re not at tall fine (OK and happy) with it. Anyways, “fine” in “fine line” means thin. It’s a thin boundary line, so thin that it becomes hard to tell where one area ends and the other area begins. Loving couples or one time lovers at any rate understand the love-hate dilemma perfectly. When they first fall in love, it’s all love for them, pure and unblemished. |