New Jargon

So, the other day, one of my commenters introduced me to some new jargon. (Thanks, Marek.)

FWIW

I had to google. Apparently, it stands for 'for what it's worth' or 'for whoever is wondering'.  (Which did you mean, Marek?) I hadn't heard it used before, but there were quite a few search results. Apparently it's already caught on. I'm glad to now be in the loop. And since you've read this post, you are now as well. You're welcome.

Nicotine Patch

Let's call this attempting to get an expression going, take 2.

Nicotine Patch (n.) - the person one is using to distract oneself in the interim of weaning oneself off someone else.  Also commonly referred to as the 'rebound' - one can't have or knows he/she shouldn't have the one he/she really wants, so he/she goes with an available distraction, or, if you will, a nicotine patch.  Often used after romantic break-ups, but not necessarily specific to them.

I referred to the guy my one of my friends casually saw after the breakup of her long-term relationship as a 'nicotine patch'.   Also, I remember a time when when I was, ahem, "not speaking" (dun dun dun!) to someone I had talked to on a very regular basis.  I ran into someone who was a casual friend of said person.  She brought up this person and said 'yeah, I have talked to so-and-so more in the past couple weeks than I have in the past three years!'  I simply smirked to myself, thinking, 'oh sweetie, you're merely a cheap substitute for me'.

Moral of the story:  never be anyone's nicotine patch.  You're better than that.

A Fine Line?

So there's an old expression that goes 'there's a fine line between love and hate'. I googled it and found some discussion boards, which had some varied responses on the matter. Some people felt there was a fine line between love and like, or dislike and hate, but a large distance between love and hate.

Now, I do believe there's times when we can hate someone without the love component. For example, if, hypothetically speaking, someone were to hit my car and drive away without leaving a note, I would hate that person, but there would be no love to it. That, and I do believe we can hate someone like a coworker or a friend's boyfriend without the fine line. Although, this might be more of a strong dislike than a hate, depending on the situation.

The bottom line, though, is that a person has to CARE to hate someone. However, when it comes to people we at one point cared about - say, a family member, a friend, or a former lover - I do believe this statement rings true loud and clear. Indifference is the opposite of love (and hate, I suppose). I think it's the case for pretty much everyone we hate that we at one point in our lives didn't. I can definitely think of some examples in my own life.

Now, granted, I think that, with most of these people, my hate/dislike for them is legitimate - they betrayed/disappointment me in some way, and that's the basis for it - not just bitterness, as some would infer. However, I think the fact that I cared for them at one point is really what it's about. I think this is where my passionate hatreds lie (not that I have many). If someone you don't expect much from in the first place screws you, there's no shock factor to it, therefore there's no time wasted wondering 'Is there something I did to deserve this? Is there something I could have done differently? How was I so foolish? If only I would have....'

Anyhow. Your thoughts? Is there a fine line between love and hate? Agree or disagree?