So I have been hearing the term “love on” more and more frequently recently online. It’s usually American creators saying things like “Seeing my friends love on my kid is amazing” or something to that effect. Is it a common term? In England it sounds wildly inappropriate so it stands out whenever I hear it, particularly as it’s often related to kids or pets. I saw it again on a post this morning which is why in sprung to mind to ask.
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I wouldn’t say it’s common but I have heard it used.
It basically just means to show affection for. It’s not uncommon.
Lol. I am American but I’ve been away for 9 years apart from visits. I’ve never heard that one, but language is always evolving.
I only started to hear it when I moved back to the South. It might be regional or it might have started regional and spread online. It just means to be affectionate toward someone.
It’s just showing affection towards them.
Not super common but not unheard of. I hear it more from southerners.
It just means to have affection for. Nothing inappropriate.
The only context I’ve heard it is in a song, [Love on Me](https://open.spotify.com/track/2MHCiOohBZEQuLgDTPvSzF?si=ToWZnO4MSxG9kIp4RkVmnA) by Galantis. If we’re talking miscommunications across the pond, “smoking some fags” sounds way more inappropriate. Although I understand the context of the word has an original meaning of “a bundle of sticks” and one could infer that association between sticks and cigarettes.
It was common in my region of Texas while I was growing up. It was usually used between family, like grandparents/grandkids. Another version is, “I need to love on your neck!” meaning a big hug.
It works the same as *dote on*. There’s also *being sweet on*, which is about love/infatuation.
These are phrasal verbs, like *call on, call up, call back, call around, bring up, bring down, cash out, count on, count up, drop in, drop out…*
I once dated a woman from Tennessee and I was taken aback when she first said it, but I also immediately put together that this must just be another Southern culture thing and moved on with my life.
Hearing it with her Tennessee accent certainly helped that process so I can understand why simply reading it might make it harder to be comfortable with it initially.
I have never heard or used that phrase. It’s new to me, and I’m surprised at hearing how common it apparently is.