"Love" the Figure of Speech

“Love is nutrient” is a rhetorical figure of speech. It asserts that love, which is a great feeling of affection, is the substance that provides nourishment for life. This figure is a metaphor, for love is not literally a substance. This metaphor means that love makes life grow, and emphasises its importance in the process of breeding.

This metaphor confirms Bennett and Royle’s assertion about our habituation to figurative language in a variety of ways. Firstly, love in its biological aspect is the very fundamental foundation of producing life. If love did not exist, certainly sexual intimacy could not happen either. In the absence of love as the main influential factor of procreation, the continuation of life would be in danger. Additionally, love supports life because it prevents wickedness and opposes evil. Likewise, love is not intelligible without life, and both are complementary to one another. So, the concept of love, to some extent fundamentally involves with life as always emerges together. This state of “togetherness” affects language and makes the figure of speech inevitable.
Because of the vast ground of resemblance between ideas and objects, metaphor and simile are widely used. Consequently, our thinking and speaking happen within a figurative language.