fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3194 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3194 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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[Slightly Damned]

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05. http://i.imgur.com/qfWqSrh.png
[fandom!secrets]
(french oil painting, op warned for nudity)

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07. [SPOILERS for Overlord]

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08. [SPOILERS for Until Dawn]

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09. [SPOILERS for The Shepherd's Crown]
[WARNING for RL death]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #456.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I was talking about a professor I had who died a while back, and I said something along the lines of the quote in the title. But I got to thinking, why the past tense? Just because he's gone doesn't change my opinion of him. I don't have any reason to stop liking him. It's the same with loved ones who die, or disappear, or leave you for someone else, or join a convent, or anything that separates you but doesn't involve you not loving them anymore. Why do we say "I loved them" if our feelings about them haven't changed?

I still use the present tense with dead people, but I generally append something to make it obvious they're dead.

Like "he's my favorite teacher; I miss him so much".

;___;

It's just how English works. He exists only in the past tense, so that's how you refer to him. You wouldn't, for example, say "He likes ice cream", because he doesn't anymore.

If someone doesn't exist, or exist anymore, you could technically (and touchingly) use the present tense for something that involves an emotion of yours, since that emotion is still standing. "I love him", "I love unicorns", etc. But it can be confusing stating that about someone who isn't around any more, and hard, too.

Was going to write a response but this is much more concise.

Because that's how English works. You have intended clauses that may not be actually said but are implicated by verb tense.

It isn't to say you immediately stop liking them when they die, but rather that your feelings on them at the current moment can't be updated via experience.

[ SECRET POST #3194 ]

"Yeah, I liked him a lot."

Re: "Yeah, I liked him a lot."

Re: "Yeah, I liked him a lot."

Re: "Yeah, I liked him a lot."

Re: "Yeah, I liked him a lot."

Re: "Yeah, I liked him a lot."