“How to tell your best friend you’re in love with them — by those who have taken the plunge”
(Sirin Kale, The Guardian, 7-1-19)

In days of yore this headline would not invite the interpretation that you love your best friend. It would imply, rather, that you love something about him or her that is plural. Eyes? Ears? Dimples?

Or it might imply that you love something plural contemplated by the two of you, such as hummingbirds or olives. I love them, too, but it’s hard to see why advice on how to tell this to your friend would be called for.

However, if this “them” you love is two or more third persons, then helpful advice from a newspaper column may indeed be called for. We’re talking polyamory, of which even your best friend may not approve.

(c) 2019 JMN