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!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16754356610.55902200 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
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[[quoteright:347:[[Manga/LoveHina https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/love_hina.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:347: Yup, nothing but platonic feelings here.]]

->'''Leela:''' I love every living creature.\\
'''Fry:''' Even me?\\
'''Leela:''' As a friend.\\
'''Fry:''' Damn!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

A standard delaying or misleading tactic of RomanticComedy that depends on the vagueness of language.

In English we have ''love'' for deep romantic love ("I love you, Alice."), or [[PlatonicLifePartners deep platonic love]] ([[HeterosexualLifePartners "I love you, man"]]), or [[TrademarkFavoriteFood shallow love of foodstuffs]] ("God, I love pastrami"). There's also times where romantic affection occurs but is not as deep as love, in which case "love" is considered deeply inappropriate. So you have ''like'', or the rather pubescent ''like''-like which is different from just "like". Confused? Well, it carries over into other languages too. The French can be confused by ''copain'' and ''ami''. The German language has a single word ''Freund'' for male friend or boyfriend and a single word ''Freundin'' for female friend or girlfriend, while ''daisuki'' (or the plain, less emphatic form, ''suki'') is a popular word used in {{anime}} for affection, but it can be very nebulous out of context (''aishiteru'', on the other hand, is very clear in its meaning and more or less cannot be taken any other way). Likewise in Spanish, ''novio/novia'' can mean "boyfriend/girlfriend," "fiancée," or "groom/bride."

The standard gag is to have a character say this, while the others are shocked at the directness. Or, if it's the person in love with them, near euphoria. This is followed by the original character mentioning [[TrueCompanions all the other people they love]].

A variant: a character is thrilled to receive what appears to be something very special and personal (often a valentine or a Christmas present) from the person they have a crush on -- only to learn that the entire cast got them.

In some cases this is played for humor, while in other cases the [[SilkHidingSteel classy character]] ''is'' denying the confession but feigning ignorance to avoid causing the other person embarrassment. One big problem in adaptations for other languages is the subjectivity in deciding which kind of affection is the proper one.

See also TheFourLoves. Compare TheILoveYouStigma.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/AhAndMmAreAllSheSays'': Toda blushes and gets wide-eyed when her editor Tanaka says "I like you," but then says that she feels the same about Yanagi and Norush, two other mangaka at the magazine. Tanaka probably didn't even realize the inadvertent meaning her words had.
%% * ''Manga/AiKora'':
%% ** LoveFreak Haiji turns out to have this sort of attitude, which [[spoiler: cheeses off Ayame, who had been developing feelings for him.]]
%% ** Maede also does this during Yukari's confessions.
* In ''Manga/AngelDensetsu'', Ikuno says this about Kitano when Ryoko asks her how she feels about him, then follows up by saying she likes Ryoko and her other friend as well.
* Subverted in ''Anime/AnohanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay''. Menma loves everyone in the Super Peace Busters, but she is well-aware that the love she feels for Jintan is something beyond mere friendship.
* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': This happens in chapter 205, when Allen is leaving the Order because of his recent discovery that he is the 14th Noah, that the Order is perfectly willing to kill innocents and infect people with akuma cells to make more Exorcists and that an Apocryphos is among the people at the order, and then [[ShipTease Lenalee]] catches up to him. Before passing through the gate to the Ark, he hugs her, dispels her doubts and says that he loves her… and everybody at the order, and that no matter what he is still an Exorcist. Cue massive amounts of {{Squee}}.
* ''Manga/DNAngel'''s main character's name is actually "Daisuke Niwa". At one point, he has to be in two places at once, one of them involving one of the love-interests. He uses his pet bunny to create a doppleganger of himself, and sends it off to go be with her. The catch, the bunny can only find itself able to say "Daisuk''i''." Hilarity ensues.
* ''Anime/DogDays'' has a variant, wherein the characters from Flonyard will loudly and proudly declare their love for the people they know, regardless of factors like gender. Actual mentions of romantic love are rare: in the second season Rebecca and Princess Millifiore talk about their feelings for [[TheHero Cinque]], and Couvre at one point says that if she were a man she'd have already proposed to Rebecca (though in Couvre's case it's more like sisterly infatuation).
* ''Manga/HanamaruKindergarten'' has [[MessianicArchetype Yamamoto-sensei]] say it, but unlike most romantic examples she doesn't say it to the guy who likes her (UnluckyEverydude Tsuchida-sensei), but rather to [[ClingyJealousGirl Anzu]], who was confronting Yamamoto because of her own crush on Tsuchida.
* One "lost" page in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' who didn't make into the published book has Poland saying this to Lithuania, but the latter interprets and rejects it as mere "like", despite Poland's attitude aiming more to a serious "like-love". Many {{doujinshi}} authors ran with this as the base for [[HoYay more shipping]] interpretations; a popular one is that Lithuania was in love with Poland at the time, but preferred to reject it because he couldn't bear with the transition from HeterosexualLifePartners to full couple.
** A straighter example would be Italy. He's very vocal about his love for Germany, but his incredibly affectionate nature towards everyone in general (including their friend Japan and random pretty girls on the street) and his overall [[TheDitz ditziness]] implicitly leads Germany to assume that he only means "love" in the friendship sense, especially in the scene where Italy pesters Germany about what he thinks of him. In fact, even when Germany realizes that he does love Italy in that way, it's still not 100% clear whether Italy loves Germany ''specifically'' and really was flirting with him, or loves Germany in a more general sense and is just oblivious to what his actions can come across as, although [[spoiler:the strong implication that Germany is Italy's long-lost childhood love probably clinches it.]]
* In Chapter 13 of ''Manga/IThinkOurSonIsGay'', Hiroki brings his ([[TransparentCloset supposedly secret]]) crush Daigo back home for dinner. At one point Daigo states he "loves" [[OpenMindedParent Tomoko]]'s cooking, and wonders whether Hiroki "loves" it too. Cue Hiroki's CrushBlush.
* ''Manga/KaijuGirlCaramelise'': When [[AlphaBitch Nagiko]] and her GirlPosse lock [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer Kuroe Akaishi]] in the gym storage room, they bring this trope up in regards to [[ChickMagnet Arata Minami]] and his relationship with Kuroe. They insist that Arata is simply a NiceGuy towards everyone and so Kuroe shouldn't get any ideas that the two of them have anything special. Later, though, when Arata and [[CloudCuckoolander Manatsu]] are looking for Kuroe and realize what the girls did, Arata defies this trope, noting that while he ''does'' try to treat everyone kindly, he was unintentionally hurting Kuroe by not showing that he saw her as special. Also, Nagiko and her lackeys had not only seen Arata and Kuroe HoldingHands the previous day, a few hours earlier they had heard Arata confess that there was someone he liked while aiming a LongingLook at Kuroe; the girls were clearly in denial and invoking this as an excuse to mistreat Kuroe.
* Hazumu in ''Manga/KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl'' consistently fails to get the hint that Asuta has a crush on her, and keeps reassuring him about what a [[JustFriends good buddy]] he is.
* Done rather confusingly in the ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' anime. In the original visual novel, there's a scene where Riki mentally admits to having a crush on Kyousuke but outwardly denies it, only to have Kyousuke say that Riki is his number one right now, causing Riki to blush, wondering whether he means what it sounds like. In the anime, after Kyousuke says that, Riki rushes to say that he doesn't like him (using the same words as when denying it in the VN), causing Kyousuke to get very depressed and leave. Riki follows him dramatically, saying that he does love him… just like he loves all the Little Busters. For some reason, Kyousuke seems pleased by this, and the scene ends with them chanting about how awesome the Little Busters group is. [[ShipTease And so their relationship once again returns to the ambiguous…]]
* In ''Manga/LoveHina'', Seta pulls this after Naru's crush for him is exposed. It's debatable if he is really that [[SelectiveObliviousness oblivious]], or just wanted to let her down gently.
* Lampshaded in ''Manga/LuckyStar'' in the Valentine's Day episode. Tsukasa gives all the main characters home-made chocolate of outstanding quality. Konata then warns her not to give it to any guys or else they might get the wrong idea.
* The ending of ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' (manga version) has Hikaru declaring that she loves Lantis ''and'' Eagle. And everyone else.
** The dark side of this trope is also a major part of the plot. Cephiro is maintained by the thoughts and prayers of the Pillar. To do that, the Pillar must care for everything and everyone in Cephiro equally. If she ever cares for anything more, everything else is by definition cared for less, and starts falling apart. The whole reason Cephiro is falling apart in the first series is because the current Pillar, Princess Emeraude, is unable to pray for Cephiro as a whole after falling in love with an individual.
* ''Anime/MagicUsersClub'' also concludes with a depiction of this scene, with Sae bursting Takeo's bubble of delirious happiness.
* Chiaki pulls this on Fujioka in ''Manga/MinamiKe'', but not for the usual reasons. The "I love you" comment is completely random, the first thing that comes to mind to cover up something else she said, then she adds the "and everybody" part after realizing that's just as bad.
* ''Anime/MyHime'' carries this out to its natural conclusion: due to her inexperience with the concept of ''suki'', NoSocialSkills Mikoto wants to tie ribbons for just about everyone she knows at a place where according to local superstition doing so will attract the one you love to you.
* ''Manga/NagasareteAirantou'' has an interesting variation. When Mikoto tells Suzu that Ikuto would fall in love with Rin, Suzu says that he already loves Rin… and Suzu, and…
* If you have been wondering why the titular character of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' didn't bother to answer Hinata's love confession after she tried to protect him from Pain, turns out he didn't understand she meant romantic love. Well, until ''[[Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie The Last]]'', that is.
* Touta from ''Manga/UQHolder'' falls under this, telling people to their faces that he loves them with no shame (and generally being clueless when they react the way you'd expect). He doesn't seem to be talking about romantic attraction, though. Getting put under a TruthSerum makes things a lot worse, causing him to not only declare that he loves all his friends, but also list in detail exactly what he loves about them… except for Mizore, whom he just calls short.
* ''Manga/ShesMyKnight'': Both Ichinose and Sakurako get this response when they try to make a LoveConfession to [[OblivioustoLove Mogami]].
* Whenever Ataru from ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' says anything that implies that he loves Lum, he ruins the effect by saying that he loves ''all'' girls. Of course, being [[HaremSeeker Ataru]], he ''does'' mean it that way.
* In ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'', Elizabeth Ix feels this way about the boys in her class, to the dismay of Reid Shax when she tells him this. But in a twist, she ''does'' mean romantic love for all of them. As a LoveFreak [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]], she views ''every male in the world'' as a love interest.
* Yukari's use of "suki" on Yui in episode 5 of ''Manga/{{Yuyushiki}}'' makes it sounds like a homoerotic LoveConfession.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In issue #10 of [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2011 volume 4]] for ''Franchise/WonderWoman'', Diana, being kidnapped by Hades and forced to marry him, uses the Lasso of truth to prove that she loves him. She then says that she loves everyone, even Hades, unconditionally.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films]]
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': Upon meeting Mantis, [[TheEmpath who can read emotions]], she declares that Peter Quill is harboring strong feelings of love. Quill, not wanting to admit how much he's fallen for Gamora, awkwardly mumbles that he feels "general, unselfish love" for the universe in general, but Mantis' powers are not so easily fooled, and she blows his secret.
* ''Film/InAmerica'' has the father show up at the door of his neighbor Mateo who's dying of [=AIDS=] after he's bonded with the family, and asks angrily if he's in love with his wife. His response is spoken in a bitter tone:
-->'''Mateo:''' No… I'm in love with you. (''beat'') And I'm in love with your beautiful woman. And I'm in love with your kids. And I'm even in love with your unborn child. I'm even in love with your anger! I'm in love with anything that lives!
* In the movie ''Film/LoveActually'', 10-year-old (roughly) Sam has a giant crush on a girl in his class, Joanna. However, he's convinced she doesn't know who he is. When he finds out she's going to sing in the Christmas concert, he learns to play the drums to be part of her band. She ends up singing a cover of "All I Want for Christmas", and on the line "All I Want for Christmas is ''you''", she turns around (he's behind her) and points to him. Sam is elated, until she turns back to the audience and picks out random people, singing "And you, and you, and you, and you!" Sam is devastated. In reality, she was really pointing to him and the rest was just showmanship.
* ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'': The Architect notes that this is the difference between Neo and all the "Ones" before him. They were this trope but Neo is AlwaysSaveTheGirl.
-->'''Architect:''' It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were, by design, based on a similar predication: a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the One. While the others experienced this [[AllLovingHero in a general way]], your experience is far more specific. Vis-à-vis: love.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' novel ''The Drodsen Curse'', the mindreading Bah-Sokhar reads the mind of Bryony and informs DoggedNiceGuy Putta that 'she loves you'. Putta is ecstatic until it adds 'she loves the Doctor'.
* Slight twist on this trope in Francine Rivers' ''Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion'''s ''An Echo In the Darkness'': Alexander tries to convince [[spoiler:Hadassah]] to leave Rome with him, declaring passionate (genuine) love for her; she responds by admitting she loves him too, and then crushes him by listing all the things she loves about him—in a [[JustFriends completely platonic]] manner.
--> '''Alexander''': What would you say if I told you ''I'' love you? Because I do! [[spoiler:Hadassah]], I love you! Doesn't that make a difference?
--> [[spoiler:'''Hadassah''']]: I love you too, Alexander…I'll always love you for your kindness to me, for your compassion to countless others, for your hunger to know truth…
--> '''Alexander''': I wasn't speaking of brotherly love.
* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'''s ''The Last Olympian'': Percy tries to pull this off [[spoiler:when talking to Athena about Annabeth]]. She's not impressed.
--> [[spoiler:'''Athena''': I would know your reasons (for rejecting becoming a god).\\
'''Percy''': I want to be a regular guy. I want to grow up. Have, you know, a regular high school experience.\\
'''Athena''': And my daughter?\\
'''Percy''': I couldn't leave her. (Then he adds quickly) Or Grover. Or--\\
'''Athena''': [[GenreSavvy Spare me]].]]
* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': One of the reasons Mr. Darcy initially believes Jane isn't in love with his best friend (and why Mr. Bingley finds it so easy to believe) is that she treats Bingley the same kind, friendly way she treats ''everybody''.
* In the ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' series, in Book 10, this exchange occurs between Evanlyn and Horace when she is about to leave:
--> '''Evanlyn''': What about you, Horace? Will you worry about me?
--> '''Horace''': (turns red) Ah... well... yes. Of course. And Alyss too, of course. Both of you. I'll worry about both of you.
* Reversed in ''Literature/TalesOfMU'': as a grain nymph, Amaranth naturally loves ''everybody'', in a sexual way, but she's also specifically in love with Mackenzie. Unsurprisingly, Mack needs some convincing on the latter point due to her crippling self-esteem issues.
* Similar reasons kept Scott from acting on his attraction to Jenny in ''Literature/TeenIdol'', she's nice to everyone.
* Not this trope exactly, but close to it -- in the one of the ''Literature/{{Troubleshooters}}, Inc.'' books, (openly gay) Jules, during a romantic-pep/get-over-yourself talk he's giving his boss, Max, says, "I love you," -- but when he sees the sympathetic/uncomfortable look on Max's face, laughs and says, "Not like that!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'':
** ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In "The Gift", Buffy tells the Scoobies she loves all of them before their final battle against the BigBad. Spike, who's spent half the season trying to get Buffy to respond to his feelings, perks up at this.
-->'''Spike:''' Ah, when you say you love us all…
-->'''Xander and Giles:''' Shut up!
** ''Series/{{Angel}}'': One scene involves Cordelia telling Angel "I love you." When a shocked Angel responds "What?", she says "Of course I love you." Then she calls out to where the others are working "Angel loves me and I love him. Don't you guys love Angel?" and Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all chime simultaneously "We love you, Angel!" It turns out that five minutes earlier everyone else was saying they loved each other just in case they all die in the coming apocalypse.
* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', Zhaan pulls this on Aeryn. Aeryn stands there shocked while Zhaan starts saying how she loves the whole universe.
-->'''Zhaan:''' I love you.\\
'''Aeryn:''' You what?\\
'''Zhaan:''' I love you.\\
'''Aeryn:''' ''(jumps up and takes several steps away)'' Ohh, yes - I did hear it the first time, and you know what? I...\\
'''Zhaan:''' I love all living beings.
* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Daphne overhears Frasier talking to the dog about how much he loves her, and doesn't understand he means it in a platonic sense. However, some further vagueness leads to Martin confirming that one of his sons is actually ''in'' love with her, with Frasier eventually clarifying that it's his brother, Niles.
* On ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' Barney intends to confess to Ted that he is in fact in love with Robin. Instead, he announces to Robin herself that he's "in love with… ''tacos''!"
* ''Series/JandaKembang'': Early in episode 28, Wulan explains that she immediately goes to cheer Malik up after college because she loves him, but she can't bring herself for a love confession yet, and continues with saying that she wants to make sure her "friend" is okay.
* When the eponymous ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' (an IdiotHero who's ObliviousToLove) was asked if there was someone he likes, we get this gem.
-->"Everybody I've ever been friends with. Everybody I'm currently friends with. And everybody I'm ever gonna be friends with."
* Used in ''Series/LostGirl'' during a scene between Bo and Lauren in second season finale.
-->'''Bo:''' I love you… all, so much.
* In ''Series/{{Stacked}}'', Skyler (a bombshell played by Pamela Anderson) says "I love you" to Stuart, and he says it back. But Skyler (unlike Stuart) really did mean it in a generic, affectionate sense. When Stuart becomes clear on this, he pretends that he too is prone to say "I love you" in a casual, affectionate way--going so far as to say it to random customers in the bookshop where he and Skyler work.
* A variation occurs on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Odo is talking to Kira about his name, which literally translates into "nothing", and how [[MeaningfulName appropriate]] he used to find it. He thought "nothing" described him perfectly, "and then I met you… and the others."
** The Vulcanian word t'hy'la, which means friend, brother, or lover, can lead to this sort of ambiguity as to whether the Vulcan in question is in love with a particular person, or views them as a friend. Compounded by the fact that Vulcans do not really enjoy expressing their emotions.
* This happens in an episode of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', while Rodney is on his (apparent) death bed.
-->'''Weir''': Rodney, you're a good person. Know that we love you.
-->'''[=McKay=]''': You love me? Really? All of you?
-->'''Sheppard''': In a way a friend feels about another friend.
-->'''[=McKay=]''': You're just saying that because I'm gonna die.
** Later it's played for laughs with Rodney trying to turn Weir's statement into something romantic and her quickly reminding him that she said "we."
* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', in one of the twelfth season a dying Castiel looks up at Dean and says "I love you" ...and then glances at all of the rest of the people gathered around him and adds, "I love all of you." Near the end of the fifteenth season he confesses that loves Dean specifically.
* On an early episode of ''Series/That70sShow'', a nervous Eric says to Donna, "I love you… man." Thus spoiling the first three words. And that's his ''second'' attempt. On his first try he for some reason went with, "I love cake."
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Season 2, episode 1 "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang." Jack says "I came back for you", apparently to Ianto; we see Ianto; then back to Jack, who adds "all of you"; we see the rest of the team.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* In ''Theatre/AvenueQ'', Kate is thrilled to get a personalized mix tape from Princeton… until he happily announces that he's going to make them for everybody. [[spoiler:''Then'' he goes and asks her out directly.]]
** The contents of the mix tape don't help her out much.
--> You've Got a Friend/The Theme from Friends/That's What Friends Are For… awww, ''shit''!
--> Oh, wait… A Whole New World/Kiss the Girl/My Cheri Amour… he really does like me!
--> I Am the Walrus/Fat-Bottomed Girls/Yellow Submarine… [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage what does this ''mean''?]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* This trope is exploited in ''VideoGame/{{Aveyond}}: Shadow of the Mist''. The main character, Boyle, is cursed by his AbhorrentAdmirer to marry her and the curse can only be broken by [[ThePowerOfLove true love]]. Now Boyle is a despicable villain, and no one could really love him -- not to mention, he doesn't really like having friends (much less a lover). His solution? Find an AllLovingHero priestess who loves "all children of the goddess" (basically everyone), and her "love" counts enough to reverse the curse.
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 [[UpdatedRerelease Record Breaker]]'''s Triangulum Arc, after you encourage Al Saiduq to be more honest with Miyako, you can jokingly ask "Was that a LoveConfession?", and he'll respond with this trope. Given that he had essentially taken on the role of God before the arc started, TheFourLoves immediately spring to mind.
-->"I honestly confessed the love I have for her. It is the same love I have for you and the others."
* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'': In one story, Adonis pledges that he wants to support and protect Anzu because he loves her (using 'aishitemasu', a ''very'' strong word for love in Japanese that is rarely used in real life). When she immediately becomes flustered, he reacts with confusion - his idol unit sings lyrics like that all the time! Why would this be something strange?
* Played with in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. GenkiGirl Cynthia and TheStoic Gerome's support conversation has her mention that she "loves him!" Gerome blushes and attempts to get her to clarify her meaning, but she breezes on, and it seems like a classic case of oblivious plucky girl not realizing the double-meaning. However, in the last stage of their support, Cynthia confirms, and can hardly believe Gerome didn't realize -- she'd told him she loved it when he called her heroic and beautiful!
* In ''VideoGame/Grandia1'' the delivery gets inverted slightly; love interest Feena asks Justin if he loves her, his response is to tell her he does… and so do their other friends, too.
* Taric of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' tiptoes around this line as the Aspect of the Protector, meaning he's essentially a PhysicalGod who serves to protect Runeterra from all foreign, otherworldly abominations, and loves everything and everyone in it, seeing beauty in what he protects. This makes his [[AmbiguouslyBi ambiguously]] [[ManlyGay gentle yet masculine]] demeanour all the more amusing.
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** Variation in ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts''. TheRival/[[TheAce Ace]] Chalcedny has just got done confessing to the woman he loves, and to cap it off, swears to bring her a world where she can smile. It's a fairly powerful scene… until the main character Shing steps up and declares, "We'll give you that world too!" The rest of the party drags Shing off as he protests, "It's better if everyone helps together, right?"
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', during a skit entitled "Girl Talk", Norma asks the sugary sweet, utterly clueless, and [[MsFanservice flat out buxom and GORGEOUS]] Grune about who her favourite boy in their party is. Grune thinks for a moment and answers that it must be Senel--to the horror of Chloe and Shirley, who both have strong romantic feelings for him and are nowhere ''close'' to competition for Grune in the looks department--only to cheerfully continue that she also loves Will, and Moses, and Jay, and Giet. (And just so the joke fully carries to those that haven't played the game: Giet is a "dog"… or some kind of wolf… ''thing'', anyway.)
** [[ObliviousToLove Lloyd]] hits both Colette and Sheena with this in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
*** Sheena faces this in her scene at the Altamira suite, when she suggests she and Lloyd come back there sometime. Lloyd says he thinks everybody might enjoy that, much to her frustration.
*** During one skit, “All Guys Are The Same!,” for... research purposes, Colette asks Lloyd if girls like Princess Hilda are his type. Lloyd says he thinks Hilda is pretty, then says he thinks Colette is cuter, then proceeds to complement all the other girls in the party, angering Colette and making her think he’s just like [[HandsomeLech Zelos]].
* In "The Tower of Power", one of the officially-released player levels for ''VideoGame/{{VVVVVV}}'', this is the response given when Professor Vitellary requests Captain Viridian's opinion of the crew of the DSS Souleye. This is made even worse by the fact that Captain Viridian's gender is unknown to the player.
* Played straight in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' when [[spoiler:Nia confesses her love to Rex after revealing herself as a Blade.]] She fully expects to be shot down, since Rex's attraction to Pyra is obvious. Rex responds with "[[spoiler:Nia,]] I love you too!" causing her to be visibly shocked. He then follows it up with "I love you, and all you guys!" causing her to laugh and admit that was exactly what she'd expected him to say.
** That said, [[spoiler: when Rex later has a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, he's confronted by an angry Nia who resents his SingleTargetSexuality for Pyra. As this is a manifestation of Rex's doubts, it's heavily implied that he actually did understand what she was saying, and was just trying not to hurt her feelings.]]
** At the end of the day, the trope [[spoiler:ends up subverted in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' as Rex did go on to marry and have children with Nia alongside Pyra and Mythra afterwards.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In ''VisualNovel/MyGirlfriendIsThePresident'' this happens in [[LiteralMinded Ell's]] route. [[LampshadeHanging Jun points out how cliched this is.]]
* In her alternate route, Sayaka in ''VisualNovel/{{Suika}}'' asks Souji if he likes Mie. He answers of course he does, then about thirty seconds later realizes she meant romantically and more or less laughs it off.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In the HighSchoolAU arc of ''Webcomic/DubiousCompany'', Sal gives her childhood friend, Leeroy, chocolates for Valentine's Day. He's surprised and deeply touched, and [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend equally crushed]] when she tells him she made chocolates for everyone.
* Roomie from ''Webcomic/GoGetARoomie'' just loves everyone. Though she doesn't seem to ''love'' love anyone. She falls in a complicated spot in between AllergicToLove, and AnythingThatMoves.
* Taisei of ''Webcomic/{{Sakana}}'' has (up to this point at least) really no one who he can't stand, and is always friendly to even the {{jerk|ass}}iest of people, as his mind seems to operating on the PowerOfFriendship. This seems to be strongest counter argument for the tons of HoYay that he emits, due to him being this and having NoSenseOfPersonalSpace. That being said, it's not ruled out that he can have romantic affection exclusive for some people because he did have a girlfriend until a few weeks before the plot started.
** That said, its most blatant when Yuudai, [[spoiler:who is gay, thought Taisei was coming onto him at one point which made him feel embarrassed]] even Taisei was just trying to be nice to him and just ended up confused with Yuudai's reaction.
* ''Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}'' strip #442: "I love the whole world"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', Princess Bubblegum rebuffs her [[DoggedNiceGuy persistent suitor]] Braco by telling him that her love for him is the "undifferentiated love [she feels] for all candy citizens", but also gives him a [[RobotMe robot duplicate]] of her to make the relationship feel more personal on his end.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' this issue come up between Arnold and Lilah, both have asked each other if they simply like the other or if they, as they put it, "''Like''-me, like me". They both have held both forms of like towards each other, just unfortunately, [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo at different times]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': T.J. copes with his hatred of Valentine's Day by sending every girl in his grade a joke valentine, which they ''all'' turn out to like way more than he intended… until they learn he sent them to every other girl and promptly turn lynch mob.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Butters is sent to Camp New Grace, which Butters is unaware is a church camp for "correcting" gay children. He has the following exchange with his roomie, who does know why he's there:
-->'''Bradley:''' I think, I, I th--, I think I like you.
-->'''Butters:''' Well I like you too, Bradley.
-->'''Bradley:''' You do??
-->'''Butters:''' Wehyeah!
-->'''Bradley:''' You like-like me?
-->'''Butters:''' Sure, I like-like you a-lot-a-lot!
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** This is a flaw of AllLovingHero Rose Quartz. She was a very empathic Gem, full of love to every living creature she encountered but though she had a deep, agape love for everyone, she also had the tendency to love humans collectively, making it difficult for her to love Greg as an ''individual'' instead of as ''a'' human, despite considering Greg "her favorite human".
--->'''Rose:''' ''[To Greg]'' I ''love'' humans! You're all so funny! ''[Greg winces and {{Thunder Shock}}s]''
** Rose's son Steven Universe has shades of this as well. When teased about liking Connie in her introductory episode, his response was "I like everyone", though his feelings for her are likewise hinted to be [[PuppyLove more than platonic]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Many languages have the same word for "friend" and "girlfriend/boyfriend". In Dutch, the diminutive is commonly used to distinguish between the two, but it's still ''very'' common to get confused.
* The Hebrew term for boyfriend/girlfriend is "the friend" (''hakhaver/a''). This can lead to confusion for people with only rudimentary Hebrew. Then there's ''yadid''/''yedida'' which is another word for friend that doesn't imply romantic interest at all, but also implies a looser connection than ''khaver/a''. There are workaround, though, such as using ''khaver tov'' (a good friend) to indicate a closer friendship. Same-sex friends usually use ''khaver/a'' without any ‘additions’; hence, it’s often said that ‘there’s nothing gayer than a man calling a ''khaver'' of his a ''yadid''’.
* In German, the two are distinguished by "friend" being 'a friend' whereas "boyfriend/girlfriend" is '''my'' friend'. Forgetful slip-ups on the part of non-native German speakers is pretty common. It's even common for native speakers, and sometimes you can't even talk about one of your same-sex friends without people assuming you're in a homosexual relationship. Can get awkward.
* Dutch has the same problem, when the diminutive isn't used -- 'mijn vriendin' literally means 'my female friend' or 'my girlfriend', but people usually assume it's the second meaning. 'Een vriendin' means 'A female friend' or 'A girlfriend', but people generally assume it's the first meaning. Though the rules about this aren't as strict as in German, there's still some misunderstanding involved whenever you talk about 'mijn vriendin', if it's a platonic female friend.
* Then there's also the Japanese terms 'kanojo' and 'kare', which can mean 'girlfriend' and 'boyfriend' or simply 'she' and 'he', depending on the context. Like all words that can change meaning based on context, this can get confusing.
* In Flemish, the words "I enjoy seeing you" ("Ik zie je graag") are often used instead of "I love you" ("Ik hou van je"). This is not the case in Dutch (which is ''almost'' the same language as Flemish), which must have lead to some… interesting situations.
** Fortunately, "beminnen" still means love in the strict sense of the word in both Dutch and Flemish. However, not a lot of people use this, as it is rather archaic and "minnaar"/"minnares" (a male and female lover, respectively) have the negative connotation of cheating attached to them. ("Minne" used to be what is now "liefde" (love) until somewhere in the Renaissance.)
* In English, the term "girlfriend" can mean a female significant other, or (usually in the plural) female friends which go out together and do feminine things.
* In Canada (where it is mandated for things to be written in both English and French) "Bob really likes his girlfriend" compare to "Alice spent the day shopping with her girlfriends" (or "how are you, girlfriend?"). Usually, you can tell what is meant based on the context. However, you should ''never'' take it the other way and ask a guy about how he spent his day with his ''boyfriends''. It just doesn't work gender-flipped. Also of confusion in Canada is the word "chum." [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Literally a friend or chum in English]], but in French it can mean "friend" or "boyfriend" (similar to the languages above where it's used two ways).
* In writing, this can be differentiated by calling the former a "girlfriend" and the latter a "girl friend," but that doesn't translate verbally (and is kind of awkward in writing anyhow). Some try to circumvent this by using more platonic terms such as "gal pal" or "guyfriend" to contrast with "girlfriend" or "boyfriend", but it doesn't always work, usually on the basis that "it's a friend who just happens to be of the opposite sex" can come across as SuspiciouslySpecificDenial. It's made even worse by some people of the older generation who use "hook up" to mean meet with or make plans with, rather than the current slang meaning "have sex with."
* In Turkish, deep romantic love has a different verb ("aşık olmak") than shallow love of foodstuffs or a friend's love (sevmek). However, both can be used to describe romantic love.
* Averted in Norwegian, where the word for a boyfriend or girlfriend is "kjæreste", literally "dearest" or "most beloved", whereas the word for friend is "venn". However, since the word "kjæreste" is considered somewhat old-fashioned, or formal, many use the term "typen min" or "dama mi", ("my guy", or "my lady"), in this context it's still pretty clear what it means. Though the term "to like" is still just as confusing in Norwegian as it is in English. 'Like'-like, or just like? An eternal question of insecure teenagers. The word for loving (å elske) is also generally seen as being very intimate and sounding less elegant than how the English use "love", probably influenced by the large number of love declarations in English-language films, as opposed to this very rarely happening in Scandinavian cinema.
* American Sign Language has the sign for "girlfriend" literally being 'girl'+'friend', and the same is true for "boyfriend". It can usually be resolved by adding that you're 'together' or 'going steady', or adding airquotes. Also, when learning ASL, it's very common to get the four types of "love" (intimate love, brotherly love, "hey just messin', love ya", and love of inanimate objects ("I love that movie")) mixed up.
* On Website/{{Facebook}} it's a popular trend to put yourself as "in a relationship" with a (usually same-sex) friend as a joke. The people who do this [[BerserkButton often get annoyed]] when other people assume they're together, treating [[NoBisexuals the fact that they're the same sex as an obvious sign that they wouldn't be together]] and it was just a joke.
* In Chinese, the system is quite similar to English. "Girl-friend" indicates a romantic partner, but is also often used to refer to platonic friends. To be safe, a rarer term is "Girl-gender(=female)-friend", which sounds awkward and can come across as a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial.
* Averted in Spanish where the words used for female/male friend (''Amiga'' and ''Amigo'' respectively) is completely different from the ones used for girlfriend/boyfriend (''Novia'' and ''Novio'' respectively). It even downplays the ''like''-like problem (In this case ''Querer'') by the fact that ''Amar'' (Literally, "to love") is seen as more intimate and 9 times of 10, it will be used in a love declaration.
* Italian as well solves the ambiguity by having two different expressions for "I love you": "ti amo" ("I love you", used only with the meaning of romantic love [[note]]you ''can'' use the verb "amare" to also mean you really like or enjoy something, but in those cases there would be no ambiguity since they don't involve love interests[[/note]]) and "ti voglio bene" (used for platonic love or general affection; a rough literal translation would be "I'm fond of you" or "I care about you"). The words for "friend" and "boyfriend/girlfriend" are separate too ("amico/amica" for the first and "ragazzo/ragazza" for the second).
* French splits it between "je t'aime" and "je t'aime bien" (I love/like you). "J'aime X" (I love X) can be used for both romantic and nonromantic situations like food or hobbies.
** "Copain", somewhat confusingly, can be used for both friend (usually for children and young adults) and boyfriend. Meanwhile, "ami/e" is "male/female friend", while "petit/e ami/e" is "boy/girlfriend".
[[/folder]]
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!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16754356610.55902200 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1332804423067765300
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[[quoteright:347:[[Manga/LoveHina https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/love_hina.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:347: Yup, nothing but platonic feelings here.]]

->'''Leela:''' I love every living creature.\\
'''Fry:''' Even me?\\
'''Leela:''' As a friend.\\
'''Fry:''' Damn!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''

A standard delaying or misleading tactic of RomanticComedy that depends on the vagueness of language.

In English we have ''love'' for deep romantic love ("I love you, Alice."), or [[PlatonicLifePartners deep platonic love]] ([[HeterosexualLifePartners "I love you, man"]]), or [[TrademarkFavoriteFood shallow love of foodstuffs]] ("God, I love pastrami"). There's also times where romantic affection occurs but is not as deep as love, in which case "love" is considered deeply inappropriate. So you have ''like'', or the rather pubescent ''like''-like which is different from just "like". Confused? Well, it carries over into other languages too. The French can be confused by ''copain'' and ''ami''. The German language has a single word ''Freund'' for male friend or boyfriend and a single word ''Freundin'' for female friend or girlfriend, while ''daisuki'' (or the plain, less emphatic form, ''suki'') is a popular word used in {{anime}} for affection, but it can be very nebulous out of context (''aishiteru'', on the other hand, is very clear in its meaning and more or less cannot be taken any other way). Likewise in Spanish, ''novio/novia'' can mean "boyfriend/girlfriend," "fiancée," or "groom/bride."

The standard gag is to have a character say this, while the others are shocked at the directness. Or, if it's the person in love with them, near euphoria. This is followed by the original character mentioning [[TrueCompanions all the other people they love]].

A variant: a character is thrilled to receive what appears to be something very special and personal (often a valentine or a Christmas present) from the person they have a crush on -- only to learn that the entire cast got them.

In some cases this is played for humor, while in other cases the [[SilkHidingSteel classy character]] ''is'' denying the confession but feigning ignorance to avoid causing the other person embarrassment. One big problem in adaptations for other languages is the subjectivity in deciding which kind of affection is the proper one.

See also TheFourLoves. Compare TheILoveYouStigma.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/AhAndMmAreAllSheSays'': Toda blushes and gets wide-eyed when her editor Tanaka says "I like you," but then says that she feels the same about Yanagi and Norush, two other mangaka at the magazine. Tanaka probably didn't even realize the inadvertent meaning her words had.
%% * ''Manga/AiKora'':
%% ** LoveFreak Haiji turns out to have this sort of attitude, which [[spoiler: cheeses off Ayame, who had been developing feelings for him.]]
%% ** Maede also does this during Yukari's confessions.
* In ''Manga/AngelDensetsu'', Ikuno says this about Kitano when Ryoko asks her how she feels about him, then follows up by saying she likes Ryoko and her other friend as well.
* Subverted in ''Anime/AnohanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay''. Menma loves everyone in the Super Peace Busters, but she is well-aware that the love she feels for Jintan is something beyond mere friendship.
* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': This happens in chapter 205, when Allen is leaving the Order because of his recent discovery that he is the 14th Noah, that the Order is perfectly willing to kill innocents and infect people with akuma cells to make more Exorcists and that an Apocryphos is among the people at the order, and then [[ShipTease Lenalee]] catches up to him. Before passing through the gate to the Ark, he hugs her, dispels her doubts and says that he loves her… and everybody at the order, and that no matter what he is still an Exorcist. Cue massive amounts of {{Squee}}.
* ''Manga/DNAngel'''s main character's name is actually "Daisuke Niwa". At one point, he has to be in two places at once, one of them involving one of the love-interests. He uses his pet bunny to create a doppleganger of himself, and sends it off to go be with her. The catch, the bunny can only find itself able to say "Daisuk''i''." Hilarity ensues.
* ''Anime/DogDays'' has a variant, wherein the characters from Flonyard will loudly and proudly declare their love for the people they know, regardless of factors like gender. Actual mentions of romantic love are rare: in the second season Rebecca and Princess Millifiore talk about their feelings for [[TheHero Cinque]], and Couvre at one point says that if she were a man she'd have already proposed to Rebecca (though in Couvre's case it's more like sisterly infatuation).
* ''Manga/HanamaruKindergarten'' has [[MessianicArchetype Yamamoto-sensei]] say it, but unlike most romantic examples she doesn't say it to the guy who likes her (UnluckyEverydude Tsuchida-sensei), but rather to [[ClingyJealousGirl Anzu]], who was confronting Yamamoto because of her own crush on Tsuchida.
* One "lost" page in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' who didn't make into the published book has Poland saying this to Lithuania, but the latter interprets and rejects it as mere "like", despite Poland's attitude aiming more to a serious "like-love". Many {{doujinshi}} authors ran with this as the base for [[HoYay more shipping]] interpretations; a popular one is that Lithuania was in love with Poland at the time, but preferred to reject it because he couldn't bear with the transition from HeterosexualLifePartners to full couple.
** A straighter example would be Italy. He's very vocal about his love for Germany, but his incredibly affectionate nature towards everyone in general (including their friend Japan and random pretty girls on the street) and his overall [[TheDitz ditziness]] implicitly leads Germany to assume that he only means "love" in the friendship sense, especially in the scene where Italy pesters Germany about what he thinks of him. In fact, even when Germany realizes that he does love Italy in that way, it's still not 100% clear whether Italy loves Germany ''specifically'' and really was flirting with him, or loves Germany in a more general sense and is just oblivious to what his actions can come across as, although [[spoiler:the strong implication that Germany is Italy's long-lost childhood love probably clinches it.]]
* In Chapter 13 of ''Manga/IThinkOurSonIsGay'', Hiroki brings his ([[TransparentCloset supposedly secret]]) crush Daigo back home for dinner. At one point Daigo states he "loves" [[OpenMindedParent Tomoko]]'s cooking, and wonders whether Hiroki "loves" it too. Cue Hiroki's CrushBlush.
* ''Manga/KaijuGirlCaramelise'': When [[AlphaBitch Nagiko]] and her GirlPosse lock [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer Kuroe Akaishi]] in the gym storage room, they bring this trope up in regards to [[ChickMagnet Arata Minami]] and his relationship with Kuroe. They insist that Arata is simply a NiceGuy towards everyone and so Kuroe shouldn't get any ideas that the two of them have anything special. Later, though, when Arata and [[CloudCuckoolander Manatsu]] are looking for Kuroe and realize what the girls did, Arata defies this trope, noting that while he ''does'' try to treat everyone kindly, he was unintentionally hurting Kuroe by not showing that he saw her as special. Also, Nagiko and her lackeys had not only seen Arata and Kuroe HoldingHands the previous day, a few hours earlier they had heard Arata confess that there was someone he liked while aiming a LongingLook at Kuroe; the girls were clearly in denial and invoking this as an excuse to mistreat Kuroe.
* Hazumu in ''Manga/KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl'' consistently fails to get the hint that Asuta has a crush on her, and keeps reassuring him about what a [[JustFriends good buddy]] he is.
* Done rather confusingly in the ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' anime. In the original visual novel, there's a scene where Riki mentally admits to having a crush on Kyousuke but outwardly denies it, only to have Kyousuke say that Riki is his number one right now, causing Riki to blush, wondering whether he means what it sounds like. In the anime, after Kyousuke says that, Riki rushes to say that he doesn't like him (using the same words as when denying it in the VN), causing Kyousuke to get very depressed and leave. Riki follows him dramatically, saying that he does love him… just like he loves all the Little Busters. For some reason, Kyousuke seems pleased by this, and the scene ends with them chanting about how awesome the Little Busters group is. [[ShipTease And so their relationship once again returns to the ambiguous…]]
* In ''Manga/LoveHina'', Seta pulls this after Naru's crush for him is exposed. It's debatable if he is really that [[SelectiveObliviousness oblivious]], or just wanted to let her down gently.
* Lampshaded in ''Manga/LuckyStar'' in the Valentine's Day episode. Tsukasa gives all the main characters home-made chocolate of outstanding quality. Konata then warns her not to give it to any guys or else they might get the wrong idea.
* The ending of ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' (manga version) has Hikaru declaring that she loves Lantis ''and'' Eagle. And everyone else.
** The dark side of this trope is also a major part of the plot. Cephiro is maintained by the thoughts and prayers of the Pillar. To do that, the Pillar must care for everything and everyone in Cephiro equally. If she ever cares for anything more, everything else is by definition cared for less, and starts falling apart. The whole reason Cephiro is falling apart in the first series is because the current Pillar, Princess Emeraude, is unable to pray for Cephiro as a whole after falling in love with an individual.
* ''Anime/MagicUsersClub'' also concludes with a depiction of this scene, with Sae bursting Takeo's bubble of delirious happiness.
* Chiaki pulls this on Fujioka in ''Manga/MinamiKe'', but not for the usual reasons. The "I love you" comment is completely random, the first thing that comes to mind to cover up something else she said, then she adds the "and everybody" part after realizing that's just as bad.
* ''Anime/MyHime'' carries this out to its natural conclusion: due to her inexperience with the concept of ''suki'', NoSocialSkills Mikoto wants to tie ribbons for just about everyone she knows at a place where according to local superstition doing so will attract the one you love to you.
* ''Manga/NagasareteAirantou'' has an interesting variation. When Mikoto tells Suzu that Ikuto would fall in love with Rin, Suzu says that he already loves Rin… and Suzu, and…
* If you have been wondering why the titular character of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' didn't bother to answer Hinata's love confession after she tried to protect him from Pain, turns out he didn't understand she meant romantic love. Well, until ''[[Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie The Last]]'', that is.
* Touta from ''Manga/UQHolder'' falls under this, telling people to their faces that he loves them with no shame (and generally being clueless when they react the way you'd expect). He doesn't seem to be talking about romantic attraction, though. Getting put under a TruthSerum makes things a lot worse, causing him to not only declare that he loves all his friends, but also list in detail exactly what he loves about them… except for Mizore, whom he just calls short.
* ''Manga/ShesMyKnight'': Both Ichinose and Sakurako get this response when they try to make a LoveConfession to [[OblivioustoLove Mogami]].
* Whenever Ataru from ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' says anything that implies that he loves Lum, he ruins the effect by saying that he loves ''all'' girls. Of course, being [[HaremSeeker Ataru]], he ''does'' mean it that way.
* In ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'', Elizabeth Ix feels this way about the boys in her class, to the dismay of Reid Shax when she tells him this. But in a twist, she ''does'' mean romantic love for all of them. As a LoveFreak [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]], she views ''every male in the world'' as a love interest.
* Yukari's use of "suki" on Yui in episode 5 of ''Manga/{{Yuyushiki}}'' makes it sounds like a homoerotic LoveConfession.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In issue #10 of [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2011 volume 4]] for ''Franchise/WonderWoman'', Diana, being kidnapped by Hades and forced to marry him, uses the Lasso of truth to prove that she loves him. She then says that she loves everyone, even Hades, unconditionally.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films]]
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': Upon meeting Mantis, [[TheEmpath who can read emotions]], she declares that Peter Quill is harboring strong feelings of love. Quill, not wanting to admit how much he's fallen for Gamora, awkwardly mumbles that he feels "general, unselfish love" for the universe in general, but Mantis' powers are not so easily fooled, and she blows his secret.
* ''Film/InAmerica'' has the father show up at the door of his neighbor Mateo who's dying of [=AIDS=] after he's bonded with the family, and asks angrily if he's in love with his wife. His response is spoken in a bitter tone:
-->'''Mateo:''' No… I'm in love with you. (''beat'') And I'm in love with your beautiful woman. And I'm in love with your kids. And I'm even in love with your unborn child. I'm even in love with your anger! I'm in love with anything that lives!
* In the movie ''Film/LoveActually'', 10-year-old (roughly) Sam has a giant crush on a girl in his class, Joanna. However, he's convinced she doesn't know who he is. When he finds out she's going to sing in the Christmas concert, he learns to play the drums to be part of her band. She ends up singing a cover of "All I Want for Christmas", and on the line "All I Want for Christmas is ''you''", she turns around (he's behind her) and points to him. Sam is elated, until she turns back to the audience and picks out random people, singing "And you, and you, and you, and you!" Sam is devastated. In reality, she was really pointing to him and the rest was just showmanship.
* ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'': The Architect notes that this is the difference between Neo and all the "Ones" before him. They were this trope but Neo is AlwaysSaveTheGirl.
-->'''Architect:''' It is interesting reading your reactions. Your five predecessors were, by design, based on a similar predication: a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of your species, facilitating the function of the One. While the others experienced this [[AllLovingHero in a general way]], your experience is far more specific. Vis-à-vis: love.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' novel ''The Drodsen Curse'', the mindreading Bah-Sokhar reads the mind of Bryony and informs DoggedNiceGuy Putta that 'she loves you'. Putta is ecstatic until it adds 'she loves the Doctor'.
* Slight twist on this trope in Francine Rivers' ''Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion'''s ''An Echo In the Darkness'': Alexander tries to convince [[spoiler:Hadassah]] to leave Rome with him, declaring passionate (genuine) love for her; she responds by admitting she loves him too, and then crushes him by listing all the things she loves about him—in a [[JustFriends completely platonic]] manner.
--> '''Alexander''': What would you say if I told you ''I'' love you? Because I do! [[spoiler:Hadassah]], I love you! Doesn't that make a difference?
--> [[spoiler:'''Hadassah''']]: I love you too, Alexander…I'll always love you for your kindness to me, for your compassion to countless others, for your hunger to know truth…
--> '''Alexander''': I wasn't speaking of brotherly love.
* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'''s ''The Last Olympian'': Percy tries to pull this off [[spoiler:when talking to Athena about Annabeth]]. She's not impressed.
--> [[spoiler:'''Athena''': I would know your reasons (for rejecting becoming a god).\\
'''Percy''': I want to be a regular guy. I want to grow up. Have, you know, a regular high school experience.\\
'''Athena''': And my daughter?\\
'''Percy''': I couldn't leave her. (Then he adds quickly) Or Grover. Or--\\
'''Athena''': [[GenreSavvy Spare me]].]]
* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': One of the reasons Mr. Darcy initially believes Jane isn't in love with his best friend (and why Mr. Bingley finds it so easy to believe) is that she treats Bingley the same kind, friendly way she treats ''everybody''.
* In the ''Literature/RangersApprentice'' series, in Book 10, this exchange occurs between Evanlyn and Horace when she is about to leave:
--> '''Evanlyn''': What about you, Horace? Will you worry about me?
--> '''Horace''': (turns red) Ah... well... yes. Of course. And Alyss too, of course. Both of you. I'll worry about both of you.
* Reversed in ''Literature/TalesOfMU'': as a grain nymph, Amaranth naturally loves ''everybody'', in a sexual way, but she's also specifically in love with Mackenzie. Unsurprisingly, Mack needs some convincing on the latter point due to her crippling self-esteem issues.
* Similar reasons kept Scott from acting on his attraction to Jenny in ''Literature/TeenIdol'', she's nice to everyone.
* Not this trope exactly, but close to it -- in the one of the ''Literature/{{Troubleshooters}}, Inc.'' books, (openly gay) Jules, during a romantic-pep/get-over-yourself talk he's giving his boss, Max, says, "I love you," -- but when he sees the sympathetic/uncomfortable look on Max's face, laughs and says, "Not like that!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'':
** ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In "The Gift", Buffy tells the Scoobies she loves all of them before their final battle against the BigBad. Spike, who's spent half the season trying to get Buffy to respond to his feelings, perks up at this.
-->'''Spike:''' Ah, when you say you love us all…
-->'''Xander and Giles:''' Shut up!
** ''Series/{{Angel}}'': One scene involves Cordelia telling Angel "I love you." When a shocked Angel responds "What?", she says "Of course I love you." Then she calls out to where the others are working "Angel loves me and I love him. Don't you guys love Angel?" and Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all chime simultaneously "We love you, Angel!" It turns out that five minutes earlier everyone else was saying they loved each other just in case they all die in the coming apocalypse.
* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', Zhaan pulls this on Aeryn. Aeryn stands there shocked while Zhaan starts saying how she loves the whole universe.
-->'''Zhaan:''' I love you.\\
'''Aeryn:''' You what?\\
'''Zhaan:''' I love you.\\
'''Aeryn:''' ''(jumps up and takes several steps away)'' Ohh, yes - I did hear it the first time, and you know what? I...\\
'''Zhaan:''' I love all living beings.
* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Daphne overhears Frasier talking to the dog about how much he loves her, and doesn't understand he means it in a platonic sense. However, some further vagueness leads to Martin confirming that one of his sons is actually ''in'' love with her, with Frasier eventually clarifying that it's his brother, Niles.
* On ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' Barney intends to confess to Ted that he is in fact in love with Robin. Instead, he announces to Robin herself that he's "in love with… ''tacos''!"
* ''Series/JandaKembang'': Early in episode 28, Wulan explains that she immediately goes to cheer Malik up after college because she loves him, but she can't bring herself for a love confession yet, and continues with saying that she wants to make sure her "friend" is okay.
* When the eponymous ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' (an IdiotHero who's ObliviousToLove) was asked if there was someone he likes, we get this gem.
-->"Everybody I've ever been friends with. Everybody I'm currently friends with. And everybody I'm ever gonna be friends with."
* Used in ''Series/LostGirl'' during a scene between Bo and Lauren in second season finale.
-->'''Bo:''' I love you… all, so much.
* In ''Series/{{Stacked}}'', Skyler (a bombshell played by Pamela Anderson) says "I love you" to Stuart, and he says it back. But Skyler (unlike Stuart) really did mean it in a generic, affectionate sense. When Stuart becomes clear on this, he pretends that he too is prone to say "I love you" in a casual, affectionate way--going so far as to say it to random customers in the bookshop where he and Skyler work.
* A variation occurs on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Odo is talking to Kira about his name, which literally translates into "nothing", and how [[MeaningfulName appropriate]] he used to find it. He thought "nothing" described him perfectly, "and then I met you… and the others."
** The Vulcanian word t'hy'la, which means friend, brother, or lover, can lead to this sort of ambiguity as to whether the Vulcan in question is in love with a particular person, or views them as a friend. Compounded by the fact that Vulcans do not really enjoy expressing their emotions.
* This happens in an episode of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', while Rodney is on his (apparent) death bed.
-->'''Weir''': Rodney, you're a good person. Know that we love you.
-->'''[=McKay=]''': You love me? Really? All of you?
-->'''Sheppard''': In a way a friend feels about another friend.
-->'''[=McKay=]''': You're just saying that because I'm gonna die.
** Later it's played for laughs with Rodney trying to turn Weir's statement into something romantic and her quickly reminding him that she said "we."
* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', in one of the twelfth season a dying Castiel looks up at Dean and says "I love you" ...and then glances at all of the rest of the people gathered around him and adds, "I love all of you." Near the end of the fifteenth season he confesses that loves Dean specifically.
* On an early episode of ''Series/That70sShow'', a nervous Eric says to Donna, "I love you… man." Thus spoiling the first three words. And that's his ''second'' attempt. On his first try he for some reason went with, "I love cake."
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Season 2, episode 1 "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang." Jack says "I came back for you", apparently to Ianto; we see Ianto; then back to Jack, who adds "all of you"; we see the rest of the team.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* In ''Theatre/AvenueQ'', Kate is thrilled to get a personalized mix tape from Princeton… until he happily announces that he's going to make them for everybody. [[spoiler:''Then'' he goes and asks her out directly.]]
** The contents of the mix tape don't help her out much.
--> You've Got a Friend/The Theme from Friends/That's What Friends Are For… awww, ''shit''!
--> Oh, wait… A Whole New World/Kiss the Girl/My Cheri Amour… he really does like me!
--> I Am the Walrus/Fat-Bottomed Girls/Yellow Submarine… [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage what does this ''mean''?]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* This trope is exploited in ''VideoGame/{{Aveyond}}: Shadow of the Mist''. The main character, Boyle, is cursed by his AbhorrentAdmirer to marry her and the curse can only be broken by [[ThePowerOfLove true love]]. Now Boyle is a despicable villain, and no one could really love him -- not to mention, he doesn't really like having friends (much less a lover). His solution? Find an AllLovingHero priestess who loves "all children of the goddess" (basically everyone), and her "love" counts enough to reverse the curse.
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 [[UpdatedRerelease Record Breaker]]'''s Triangulum Arc, after you encourage Al Saiduq to be more honest with Miyako, you can jokingly ask "Was that a LoveConfession?", and he'll respond with this trope. Given that he had essentially taken on the role of God before the arc started, TheFourLoves immediately spring to mind.
-->"I honestly confessed the love I have for her. It is the same love I have for you and the others."
* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'': In one story, Adonis pledges that he wants to support and protect Anzu because he loves her (using 'aishitemasu', a ''very'' strong word for love in Japanese that is rarely used in real life). When she immediately becomes flustered, he reacts with confusion - his idol unit sings lyrics like that all the time! Why would this be something strange?
* Played with in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. GenkiGirl Cynthia and TheStoic Gerome's support conversation has her mention that she "loves him!" Gerome blushes and attempts to get her to clarify her meaning, but she breezes on, and it seems like a classic case of oblivious plucky girl not realizing the double-meaning. However, in the last stage of their support, Cynthia confirms, and can hardly believe Gerome didn't realize -- she'd told him she loved it when he called her heroic and beautiful!
* In ''VideoGame/Grandia1'' the delivery gets inverted slightly; love interest Feena asks Justin if he loves her, his response is to tell her he does… and so do their other friends, too.
* Taric of ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' tiptoes around this line as the Aspect of the Protector, meaning he's essentially a PhysicalGod who serves to protect Runeterra from all foreign, otherworldly abominations, and loves everything and everyone in it, seeing beauty in what he protects. This makes his [[AmbiguouslyBi ambiguously]] [[ManlyGay gentle yet masculine]] demeanour all the more amusing.
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** Variation in ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts''. TheRival/[[TheAce Ace]] Chalcedny has just got done confessing to the woman he loves, and to cap it off, swears to bring her a world where she can smile. It's a fairly powerful scene… until the main character Shing steps up and declares, "We'll give you that world too!" The rest of the party drags Shing off as he protests, "It's better if everyone helps together, right?"
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', during a skit entitled "Girl Talk", Norma asks the sugary sweet, utterly clueless, and [[MsFanservice flat out buxom and GORGEOUS]] Grune about who her favourite boy in their party is. Grune thinks for a moment and answers that it must be Senel--to the horror of Chloe and Shirley, who both have strong romantic feelings for him and are nowhere ''close'' to competition for Grune in the looks department--only to cheerfully continue that she also loves Will, and Moses, and Jay, and Giet. (And just so the joke fully carries to those that haven't played the game: Giet is a "dog"… or some kind of wolf… ''thing'', anyway.)
** [[ObliviousToLove Lloyd]] hits both Colette and Sheena with this in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
*** Sheena faces this in her scene at the Altamira suite, when she suggests she and Lloyd come back there sometime. Lloyd says he thinks everybody might enjoy that, much to her frustration.
*** During one skit, “All Guys Are The Same!,” for... research purposes, Colette asks Lloyd if girls like Princess Hilda are his type. Lloyd says he thinks Hilda is pretty, then says he thinks Colette is cuter, then proceeds to complement all the other girls in the party, angering Colette and making her think he’s just like [[HandsomeLech Zelos]].
* In "The Tower of Power", one of the officially-released player levels for ''VideoGame/{{VVVVVV}}'', this is the response given when Professor Vitellary requests Captain Viridian's opinion of the crew of the DSS Souleye. This is made even worse by the fact that Captain Viridian's gender is unknown to the player.
* Played straight in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' when [[spoiler:Nia confesses her love to Rex after revealing herself as a Blade.]] She fully expects to be shot down, since Rex's attraction to Pyra is obvious. Rex responds with "[[spoiler:Nia,]] I love you too!" causing her to be visibly shocked. He then follows it up with "I love you, and all you guys!" causing her to laugh and admit that was exactly what she'd expected him to say.
** That said, [[spoiler: when Rex later has a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, he's confronted by an angry Nia who resents his SingleTargetSexuality for Pyra. As this is a manifestation of Rex's doubts, it's heavily implied that he actually did understand what she was saying, and was just trying not to hurt her feelings.]]
** At the end of the day, the trope [[spoiler:ends up subverted in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' as Rex did go on to marry and have children with Nia alongside Pyra and Mythra afterwards.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In ''VisualNovel/MyGirlfriendIsThePresident'' this happens in [[LiteralMinded Ell's]] route. [[LampshadeHanging Jun points out how cliched this is.]]
* In her alternate route, Sayaka in ''VisualNovel/{{Suika}}'' asks Souji if he likes Mie. He answers of course he does, then about thirty seconds later realizes she meant romantically and more or less laughs it off.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In the HighSchoolAU arc of ''Webcomic/DubiousCompany'', Sal gives her childhood friend, Leeroy, chocolates for Valentine's Day. He's surprised and deeply touched, and [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend equally crushed]] when she tells him she made chocolates for everyone.
* Roomie from ''Webcomic/GoGetARoomie'' just loves everyone. Though she doesn't seem to ''love'' love anyone. She falls in a complicated spot in between AllergicToLove, and AnythingThatMoves.
* Taisei of ''Webcomic/{{Sakana}}'' has (up to this point at least) really no one who he can't stand, and is always friendly to even the {{jerk|ass}}iest of people, as his mind seems to operating on the PowerOfFriendship. This seems to be strongest counter argument for the tons of HoYay that he emits, due to him being this and having NoSenseOfPersonalSpace. That being said, it's not ruled out that he can have romantic affection exclusive for some people because he did have a girlfriend until a few weeks before the plot started.
** That said, its most blatant when Yuudai, [[spoiler:who is gay, thought Taisei was coming onto him at one point which made him feel embarrassed]] even Taisei was just trying to be nice to him and just ended up confused with Yuudai's reaction.
* ''Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}'' strip #442: "I love the whole world"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', Princess Bubblegum rebuffs her [[DoggedNiceGuy persistent suitor]] Braco by telling him that her love for him is the "undifferentiated love [she feels] for all candy citizens", but also gives him a [[RobotMe robot duplicate]] of her to make the relationship feel more personal on his end.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' this issue come up between Arnold and Lilah, both have asked each other if they simply like the other or if they, as they put it, "''Like''-me, like me". They both have held both forms of like towards each other, just unfortunately, [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo at different times]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': T.J. copes with his hatred of Valentine's Day by sending every girl in his grade a joke valentine, which they ''all'' turn out to like way more than he intended… until they learn he sent them to every other girl and promptly turn lynch mob.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': Butters is sent to Camp New Grace, which Butters is unaware is a church camp for "correcting" gay children. He has the following exchange with his roomie, who does know why he's there:
-->'''Bradley:''' I think, I, I th--, I think I like you.
-->'''Butters:''' Well I like you too, Bradley.
-->'''Bradley:''' You do??
-->'''Butters:''' Wehyeah!
-->'''Bradley:''' You like-like me?
-->'''Butters:''' Sure, I like-like you a-lot-a-lot!
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':
** This is a flaw of AllLovingHero Rose Quartz. She was a very empathic Gem, full of love to every living creature she encountered but though she had a deep, agape love for everyone, she also had the tendency to love humans collectively, making it difficult for her to love Greg as an ''individual'' instead of as ''a'' human, despite considering Greg "her favorite human".
--->'''Rose:''' ''[To Greg]'' I ''love'' humans! You're all so funny! ''[Greg winces and {{Thunder Shock}}s]''
** Rose's son Steven Universe has shades of this as well. When teased about liking Connie in her introductory episode, his response was "I like everyone", though his feelings for her are likewise hinted to be [[PuppyLove more than platonic]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Many languages have the same word for "friend" and "girlfriend/boyfriend". In Dutch, the diminutive is commonly used to distinguish between the two, but it's still ''very'' common to get confused.
* The Hebrew term for boyfriend/girlfriend is "the friend" (''hakhaver/a''). This can lead to confusion for people with only rudimentary Hebrew. Then there's ''yadid''/''yedida'' which is another word for friend that doesn't imply romantic interest at all, but also implies a looser connection than ''khaver/a''. There are workaround, though, such as using ''khaver tov'' (a good friend) to indicate a closer friendship. Same-sex friends usually use ''khaver/a'' without any ‘additions’; hence, it’s often said that ‘there’s nothing gayer than a man calling a ''khaver'' of his a ''yadid''’.
* In German, the two are distinguished by "friend" being 'a friend' whereas "boyfriend/girlfriend" is '''my'' friend'. Forgetful slip-ups on the part of non-native German speakers is pretty common. It's even common for native speakers, and sometimes you can't even talk about one of your same-sex friends without people assuming you're in a homosexual relationship. Can get awkward.
* Dutch has the same problem, when the diminutive isn't used -- 'mijn vriendin' literally means 'my female friend' or 'my girlfriend', but people usually assume it's the second meaning. 'Een vriendin' means 'A female friend' or 'A girlfriend', but people generally assume it's the first meaning. Though the rules about this aren't as strict as in German, there's still some misunderstanding involved whenever you talk about 'mijn vriendin', if it's a platonic female friend.
* Then there's also the Japanese terms 'kanojo' and 'kare', which can mean 'girlfriend' and 'boyfriend' or simply 'she' and 'he', depending on the context. Like all words that can change meaning based on context, this can get confusing.
* In Flemish, the words "I enjoy seeing you" ("Ik zie je graag") are often used instead of "I love you" ("Ik hou van je"). This is not the case in Dutch (which is ''almost'' the same language as Flemish), which must have lead to some… interesting situations.
** Fortunately, "beminnen" still means love in the strict sense of the word in both Dutch and Flemish. However, not a lot of people use this, as it is rather archaic and "minnaar"/"minnares" (a male and female lover, respectively) have the negative connotation of cheating attached to them. ("Minne" used to be what is now "liefde" (love) until somewhere in the Renaissance.)
* In English, the term "girlfriend" can mean a female significant other, or (usually in the plural) female friends which go out together and do feminine things.
* In Canada (where it is mandated for things to be written in both English and French) "Bob really likes his girlfriend" compare to "Alice spent the day shopping with her girlfriends" (or "how are you, girlfriend?"). Usually, you can tell what is meant based on the context. However, you should ''never'' take it the other way and ask a guy about how he spent his day with his ''boyfriends''. It just doesn't work gender-flipped. Also of confusion in Canada is the word "chum." [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Literally a friend or chum in English]], but in French it can mean "friend" or "boyfriend" (similar to the languages above where it's used two ways).
* In writing, this can be differentiated by calling the former a "girlfriend" and the latter a "girl friend," but that doesn't translate verbally (and is kind of awkward in writing anyhow). Some try to circumvent this by using more platonic terms such as "gal pal" or "guyfriend" to contrast with "girlfriend" or "boyfriend", but it doesn't always work, usually on the basis that "it's a friend who just happens to be of the opposite sex" can come across as SuspiciouslySpecificDenial. It's made even worse by some people of the older generation who use "hook up" to mean meet with or make plans with, rather than the current slang meaning "have sex with."
* In Turkish, deep romantic love has a different verb ("aşık olmak") than shallow love of foodstuffs or a friend's love (sevmek). However, both can be used to describe romantic love.
* Averted in Norwegian, where the word for a boyfriend or girlfriend is "kjæreste", literally "dearest" or "most beloved", whereas the word for friend is "venn". However, since the word "kjæreste" is considered somewhat old-fashioned, or formal, many use the term "typen min" or "dama mi", ("my guy", or "my lady"), in this context it's still pretty clear what it means. Though the term "to like" is still just as confusing in Norwegian as it is in English. 'Like'-like, or just like? An eternal question of insecure teenagers. The word for loving (å elske) is also generally seen as being very intimate and sounding less elegant than how the English use "love", probably influenced by the large number of love declarations in English-language films, as opposed to this very rarely happening in Scandinavian cinema.
* American Sign Language has the sign for "girlfriend" literally being 'girl'+'friend', and the same is true for "boyfriend". It can usually be resolved by adding that you're 'together' or 'going steady', or adding airquotes. Also, when learning ASL, it's very common to get the four types of "love" (intimate love, brotherly love, "hey just messin', love ya", and love of inanimate objects ("I love that movie")) mixed up.
* On Website/{{Facebook}} it's a popular trend to put yourself as "in a relationship" with a (usually same-sex) friend as a joke. The people who do this [[BerserkButton often get annoyed]] when other people assume they're together, treating [[NoBisexuals the fact that they're the same sex as an obvious sign that they wouldn't be together]] and it was just a joke.
* In Chinese, the system is quite similar to English. "Girl-friend" indicates a romantic partner, but is also often used to refer to platonic friends. To be safe, a rarer term is "Girl-gender(=female)-friend", which sounds awkward and can come across as a SuspiciouslySpecificDenial.
* Averted in Spanish where the words used for female/male friend (''Amiga'' and ''Amigo'' respectively) is completely different from the ones used for girlfriend/boyfriend (''Novia'' and ''Novio'' respectively). It even downplays the ''like''-like problem (In this case ''Querer'') by the fact that ''Amar'' (Literally, "to love") is seen as more intimate and 9 times of 10, it will be used in a love declaration.
* Italian as well solves the ambiguity by having two different expressions for "I love you": "ti amo" ("I love you", used only with the meaning of romantic love [[note]]you ''can'' use the verb "amare" to also mean you really like or enjoy something, but in those cases there would be no ambiguity since they don't involve love interests[[/note]]) and "ti voglio bene" (used for platonic love or general affection; a rough literal translation would be "I'm fond of you" or "I care about you"). The words for "friend" and "boyfriend/girlfriend" are separate too ("amico/amica" for the first and "ragazzo/ragazza" for the second).
* French splits it between "je t'aime" and "je t'aime bien" (I love/like you). "J'aime X" (I love X) can be used for both romantic and nonromantic situations like food or hobbies.
** "Copain", somewhat confusingly, can be used for both friend (usually for children and young adults) and boyfriend. Meanwhile, "ami/e" is "male/female friend", while "petit/e ami/e" is "boy/girlfriend".
[[/folder]]
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[[redirect:BaitAndSwitchSentiment]]

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* At one point in the ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' manga, Mara the demon possesses Keichii's sister Megumi and "confesses" her love to Belldandy. Mara's stunned when Bell says that she loves Megumi too… and Keichii, and Tamiya, and Ootaki, and her sisters…
** Belldandy, who initially seems to play this trope, flat out states that her wish to make Keiichi happy overrules her wish to make everyone in the world happy.
* ''Manga/AiKora'':
** LoveFreak Haiji turns out to have this sort of attitude, which [[spoiler: cheeses off Ayame, who had been developing feelings for him.]]
** Maede also does this during Yukari's confessions.

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* At one point in the ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' manga, Mara the demon possesses Keichii's sister Megumi and "confesses" her love to Belldandy. Mara's stunned when Bell says that she loves Megumi too… and Keichii, and Tamiya, and Ootaki, and her sisters…
** Belldandy, who initially seems to play this trope, flat out states that her wish to make Keiichi happy overrules her wish to make everyone in the world happy.
%% * ''Manga/AiKora'':
%% ** LoveFreak Haiji turns out to have this sort of attitude, which [[spoiler: cheeses off Ayame, who had been developing feelings for him.]]
%% ** Maede also does this during Yukari's confessions.



* In ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', after an exchange of this kind between Sakura and Tomoyo, the latter [[LampshadeHanging lampshades the trope]] by saying that "what you mean with like and what ''I'' mean with [[GirlsLove like]] are two very different things." [[ObliviousToLove Sakura fails to see the point.]]



* A variation occurs in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''; When [[WholesomeCrossdresser Nuriko]] confesses to Tamahome that he [[spoiler:loves Miaka]], he goes on to say, "For that matter, I love you too. I love Hotohori, Tasuki -- all of them. I think that's what makes me a Suzaku warrior, and I'm ''proud'' of that." The whole speech is so vague that fans still dispute whether Nuriko [[spoiler: was IN love with Miaka, or if he just really loved her as a friend.]]



* In the end of episode 11 of ''Anime/HighSchoolStarMusical'', Nayuki confesses his love to Hoshitani - alone in a classroom, passionately worded - and Hoshitani responds that he does, too - he loves the whole team.



* In an ''Manga/IkkiTousen: Great Guardians'' episode, Kan'u asks if Ryuubi does love her. Ryuubi says yes, which causes Kan'u to feel like she's in heaven… until Ryuubi continues that she likes the rest of the school members (Chouhi, Chou'un, Koumei, even Kouchuu)… which instantly petrifies Kan'u.
* Subverted in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' when Ishigami offers a giant heart-shaped gift to Tsubame during the Devoted Hearts Festival (which is a sign of eternal love in-universe). Ishigami doesn't know the legend behind it due to having a very small social circle and was just giving it to her as thanks for all the times she's helped him out, but everyone else in the school interprets it as a LoveConfession. Of course, Ishigami actually ''does'' have a crush on her and had been trying to find a way to confess, [[AchievementsInIgnorance but he remains completely oblivious to the fact that he's already done so]].



* Early on in ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku'', Godai receives a handmade scarf from Kyoko. He is dismayed when he learns that Mitaka received one as well. They debate whether that means she likes them equally, only to learn she made scarves for everyone at Ikkoku as thanks for taking care of her when she was sick.



* In ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'', Youko pulls this move during Asahi's first attempt at a confession. He goes through a brief HeroicBSOD until one of his friends points out that she didn't actually reject him, she just ran away before he could confess, and he shouldn't give up so easily.
** Youko actually did it to ''herself'' moments earlier; she knew Asahi had something to tell her, but when the idea of a LoveConfession came to mind, she shot herself down by saying he's nice to ''everybody'', and she causes him too much trouble for him to see her as anything but a friend. Due to her own nervousness and uncertainty about her feelings for Asahi, she interrupts him mid-confession, awkwardly says "I like you! …and all our other friends!" and runs off.



* ''Franchise/{{Negima}}'':
** ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' uses this once or twice:
*** Once when Negi tries to encourage Asuna to confess to Takahata -- I've always liked you, Asuna *gasp and blush* And so does Konoka and everyone else!
*** The second is when Negi is about to head to the Magical World, gets Asuna alone and asks her to come, seeming to imply a RelationshipUpgrade on the pactio thing, and then invites everyone else along as well. Asuna's reaction is rather [[ShipTease suspicious]] but ambiguous as well.
** Touta from ''Manga/UQHolder'' falls under this, telling people to their faces that he loves them with no shame (and generally being clueless when they react the way you'd expect). He doesn't seem to be talking about romantic attraction, though. Getting put under a TruthSerum makes things a lot worse, causing him to not only declare that he loves all his friends, but also list in detail exactly what he loves about them… except for Mizore, whom he just calls short.
* Happens rather deliberately in ''Literature/Overlord2012''. When Ains tells Albedo that he loves all of the Floor Guardians, because they were created/programmed by his dear friends and guild-mates, she VERY DETERMINEDLY focuses on the fact that ''she'' is included in that group, and therefore, he loves her. [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling It basically makes her lock up for a bit]].
* In ''Manga/Reborn2004'' Tsuna is thrilled when his crush Kyoko gives him a charm thinking this means she likes him but is soon disappointed when he learns that she made some for Gokudera and Yamamoto too.

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* ''Franchise/{{Negima}}'':
** ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' uses this once or twice:
*** Once when Negi tries to encourage Asuna to confess to Takahata -- I've always liked you, Asuna *gasp and blush* And so does Konoka and everyone else!
*** The second is when Negi is about to head to the Magical World, gets Asuna alone and asks her to come, seeming to imply a RelationshipUpgrade on the pactio thing, and then invites everyone else along as well. Asuna's reaction is rather [[ShipTease suspicious]] but ambiguous as well.
**
Touta from ''Manga/UQHolder'' falls under this, telling people to their faces that he loves them with no shame (and generally being clueless when they react the way you'd expect). He doesn't seem to be talking about romantic attraction, though. Getting put under a TruthSerum makes things a lot worse, causing him to not only declare that he loves all his friends, but also list in detail exactly what he loves about them… except for Mizore, whom he just calls short.
* Happens rather deliberately in ''Literature/Overlord2012''. When Ains tells Albedo that he loves all of the Floor Guardians, because they were created/programmed by his dear friends and guild-mates, she VERY DETERMINEDLY focuses on the fact that ''she'' is included in that group, and therefore, he loves her. [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling It basically makes her lock up for a bit]].
* In ''Manga/Reborn2004'' Tsuna is thrilled when his crush Kyoko gives him a charm thinking this means she likes him but is soon disappointed when he learns that she made some for Gokudera and Yamamoto too.
short.



* Done by Mihoshi in ''Manga/SoraNoManimani''. After she apparently says "I love you!" to Saku, there's a beat, a chance for Saku and Hime to be stunned, followed by Mihoshi listing every other member of the Astronomy Club, leaving Saku and Hime stunned in a different way.
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* Happens rather deliberately in ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}''. When Ains tells Albedo that he loves all of the Floor Guardians, because they were created/programmed by his dear friends and guild-mates, she VERY DETERMINEDLY focuses on the fact that ''she'' is included in that group, and therefore, he loves her. [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling It basically makes her lock up for a bit]].

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* Happens rather deliberately in ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}''.''Literature/Overlord2012''. When Ains tells Albedo that he loves all of the Floor Guardians, because they were created/programmed by his dear friends and guild-mates, she VERY DETERMINEDLY focuses on the fact that ''she'' is included in that group, and therefore, he loves her. [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling It basically makes her lock up for a bit]].
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Added DiffLines:

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16754356610.55902200 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

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* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', at one point a dying Castiel looks up at Dean and says "I love you" ...and then glances at all of the rest of the people gathered around him and adds, "I love all of you."

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* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', at in one point of the twelfth season a dying Castiel looks up at Dean and says "I love you" ...and then glances at all of the rest of the people gathered around him and adds, "I love all of you."" Near the end of the fifteenth season he confesses that loves Dean specifically.
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** ''Series/{{Angel}}'': One scene involves Cordelia telling Angel "I love you." When a shocked Angel responds "What?", she says "Of course I love you." Then she calls out to where the others are working "Angel loves me and I love him. Don't you guys love Angel?" and Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all chime simultaneously "We love you, Angel!" It turns out that five minutes earlier everyone else was saying they loved each just in case they all die in the coming apocalypse.

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** ''Series/{{Angel}}'': One scene involves Cordelia telling Angel "I love you." When a shocked Angel responds "What?", she says "Of course I love you." Then she calls out to where the others are working "Angel loves me and I love him. Don't you guys love Angel?" and Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all chime simultaneously "We love you, Angel!" It turns out that five minutes earlier everyone else was saying they loved each other just in case they all die in the coming apocalypse.
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* In ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'', Elizabeth Ix feels this way about the boys in her class, to the dismay of Reid Shax when she tells him this. But in a twist, she ''does'' mean romantic love for all of them. As a LoveFreak [[HornyDevils succubus]], she views ''every male in the world'' as a love interest.

to:

* In ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'', Elizabeth Ix feels this way about the boys in her class, to the dismay of Reid Shax when she tells him this. But in a twist, she ''does'' mean romantic love for all of them. As a LoveFreak [[HornyDevils [[SuccubiAndIncubi succubus]], she views ''every male in the world'' as a love interest.
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* ''Franchise/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':

to:

* ''Franchise/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'':
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** At the end of the day, the trope [[spoiler:ends up subverted in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' as Rex did go on to marry and impregnate Nia alongside Pyra and Mythra afterwards.]]

to:

** At the end of the day, the trope [[spoiler:ends up subverted in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' as Rex did go on to marry and impregnate have children with Nia alongside Pyra and Mythra afterwards.]]
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One big problem in adaptations for other languages is the subjectivity in deciding which kind of affection is the proper one. In some cases this is played for humor, while in other cases the [[SilkHidingSteel classy character]] ''is'' denying the confession but feigning ignorance to avoid causing the other person embarrassment.

to:

One big problem in adaptations for other languages is the subjectivity in deciding which kind of affection is the proper one. In some cases this is played for humor, while in other cases the [[SilkHidingSteel classy character]] ''is'' denying the confession but feigning ignorance to avoid causing the other person embarrassment.
embarrassment. One big problem in adaptations for other languages is the subjectivity in deciding which kind of affection is the proper one.
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*** And at the end of the day the trope [[spoiler: ends up subverted in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' as Rex did go on to marry and impregnate Nia alongside Pyra and Mythra afterwards.]]

to:

*** And at ** At the end of the day day, the trope [[spoiler: ends [[spoiler:ends up subverted in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' as Rex did go on to marry and impregnate Nia alongside Pyra and Mythra afterwards.]]
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Added DiffLines:

* ''Webcomic/{{Xkcd}}'' strip #442: "I love the whole world"

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Changed: 5207

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Placing examples in alphabetical order and removed some natter


** Given that six of Riki's nine compatriots in the Little Busters have routes where he can date them, he really ''does'' love Kyousuke and everybody.



* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' uses this once or twice:
** Once when Negi tries to encourage Asuna to confess to Takahata -- I've always liked you, Asuna *gasp and blush* And so does Konoka and everyone else!
** The second is when Negi is about to head to the Magical World, gets Asuna alone and asks her to come, seeming to imply a RelationshipUpgrade on the pactio thing, and then invites everyone else along as well. Asuna's reaction is rather [[ShipTease suspicious]] but ambiguous as well.

to:

* ''Franchise/{{Negima}}'':
**
''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' uses this once or twice:
** *** Once when Negi tries to encourage Asuna to confess to Takahata -- I've always liked you, Asuna *gasp and blush* And so does Konoka and everyone else!
** *** The second is when Negi is about to head to the Magical World, gets Asuna alone and asks her to come, seeming to imply a RelationshipUpgrade on the pactio thing, and then invites everyone else along as well. Asuna's reaction is rather [[ShipTease suspicious]] but ambiguous as well.well.
** Touta from ''Manga/UQHolder'' falls under this, telling people to their faces that he loves them with no shame (and generally being clueless when they react the way you'd expect). He doesn't seem to be talking about romantic attraction, though. Getting put under a TruthSerum makes things a lot worse, causing him to not only declare that he loves all his friends, but also list in detail exactly what he loves about them… except for Mizore, whom he just calls short.



* In ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'', Elizabeth Ix feels this way about the boys in her class, to the dismay of Reid Shax when she tells him this. But in a twist, she ''does'' mean romantic love for all of them. As a LoveFreak [[HornyDevils succubus]], she views ''every male in the world'' as a love interest.



* Touta from ''Manga/UQHolder'' falls under this, telling people to their faces that he loves them with no shame (and generally being clueless when they react the way you'd expect). He doesn't seem to be talking about romantic attraction, though. Getting put under a TruthSerum makes things a lot worse, causing him to not only declare that he loves all his friends, but also list in detail exactly what he loves about them… except for Mizore, whom he just calls short.
* In ''Manga/WelcomeToDemonSchoolIrumaKun'', Elizabeth Ix feels this way about the boys in her class, to the dismay of Reid Shax when she tells him this. But in a twist, she ''does'' mean romantic love for all of them. As a LoveFreak [[HornyDevils succubus]], she views ''every male in the world'' as a love interest.



* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': Upon meeting Mantis, [[TheEmpath who can read emotions]], she declares that Peter Quill is harboring strong feelings of love. Quill, not wanting to admit how much he's fallen for Gamora, awkwardly mumbles that he feels "general, unselfish love" for the universe in general, but Mantis' powers are not so easily fooled, and she blows his secret.
* ''Film/InAmerica'' has the father show up at the door of his neighbor Mateo who's dying of [=AIDS=] after he's bonded with the family, and asks angrily if he's in love with his wife. His response is spoken in a bitter tone:
-->'''Mateo:''' No… I'm in love with you. (''beat'') And I'm in love with your beautiful woman. And I'm in love with your kids. And I'm even in love with your unborn child. I'm even in love with your anger! I'm in love with anything that lives!



* ''Film/InAmerica'' has the father show up at the door of his neighbor Mateo who's dying of [=AIDS=] after he's bonded with the family, and asks angrily if he's in love with his wife. His response is spoken in a bitter tone:
-->'''Mateo:''' No… I'm in love with you. (''beat'') And I'm in love with your beautiful woman. And I'm in love with your kids. And I'm even in love with your unborn child. I'm even in love with your anger! I'm in love with anything that lives!
* ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': Upon meeting Mantis, [[TheEmpath who can read emotions]], she declares that Peter Quill is harboring strong feelings of love. Quill, not wanting to admit how much he's fallen for Gamora, awkwardly mumbles that he feels "general, unselfish love" for the universe in general, but Mantis' powers are not so easily fooled, and she blows his secret.



* Not this trope exactly, but close to it -- in the one of the ''Literature/{{Troubleshooters}}, Inc.'' books, (openly gay) Jules, during a romantic-pep/get-over-yourself talk he's giving his boss, Max, says, "I love you," -- but when he sees the sympathetic/uncomfortable look on Max's face, laughs and says, "Not like that!"
* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': One of the reasons Mr. Darcy initially believes Jane isn't in love with his best friend (and why Mr. Bingley finds it so easy to believe) is that she treats Bingley the same kind, friendly way she treats ''everybody''.
* Similar reasons kept Scott from acting on his attraction to Jenny in ''Literature/TeenIdol'', she's nice to everyone.
* ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The Last Olympian]]'': Percy tries to pull this off [[spoiler:when talking to Athena about Annabeth]]. She's not impressed.

to:

* Not In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' novel ''The Drodsen Curse'', the mindreading Bah-Sokhar reads the mind of Bryony and informs DoggedNiceGuy Putta that 'she loves you'. Putta is ecstatic until it adds 'she loves the Doctor'.
* Slight twist on
this trope exactly, but close to it -- in Francine Rivers' ''Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion'''s ''An Echo In the one of the ''Literature/{{Troubleshooters}}, Inc.'' books, (openly gay) Jules, during a romantic-pep/get-over-yourself talk he's giving his boss, Max, says, "I Darkness'': Alexander tries to convince [[spoiler:Hadassah]] to leave Rome with him, declaring passionate (genuine) love you," -- but when he sees for her; she responds by admitting she loves him too, and then crushes him by listing all the sympathetic/uncomfortable look on Max's face, laughs and says, "Not like that!"
* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': One of the reasons Mr. Darcy initially believes Jane isn't in
things she loves about him—in a [[JustFriends completely platonic]] manner.
--> '''Alexander''': What would you say if I told you ''I''
love with his best friend (and why Mr. Bingley finds it so easy to believe) is you? Because I do! [[spoiler:Hadassah]], I love you! Doesn't that she treats Bingley the same kind, friendly way she treats ''everybody''.
* Similar reasons kept Scott from acting on his attraction
make a difference?
--> [[spoiler:'''Hadassah''']]: I love you too, Alexander…I'll always love you for your kindness
to Jenny in ''Literature/TeenIdol'', she's nice me, for your compassion to everyone.
countless others, for your hunger to know truth…
--> '''Alexander''': I wasn't speaking of brotherly love.
* ''[[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians The ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'''s ''The Last Olympian]]'': Olympian'': Percy tries to pull this off [[spoiler:when talking to Athena about Annabeth]]. She's not impressed.



* Slight twist on this trope in Francine Rivers’ ''[[Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion An Echo In the Darkness]]'': Alexander tries to convince [[spoiler:Hadassah]] to leave Rome with him, declaring passionate (genuine) love for her; she responds by admitting she loves him too, and then crushes him by listing all the things she loves about him—in a [[JustFriends completely platonic]] manner.
--> '''Alexander''': What would you say if I told you ''I'' love you? Because I do! [[spoiler:Hadassah]], I love you! Doesn't that make a difference?
--> [[spoiler:'''Hadassah''']]: I love you too, Alexander…I'll always love you for your kindness to me, for your compassion to countless others, for your hunger to know truth…
--> '''Alexander''': I wasn't speaking of brotherly love.

to:

* Slight twist on this trope in Francine Rivers’ ''[[Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion An Echo In ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': One of the Darkness]]'': Alexander tries to convince [[spoiler:Hadassah]] to leave Rome reasons Mr. Darcy initially believes Jane isn't in love with him, declaring passionate (genuine) love for her; she responds by admitting she loves him too, and then crushes him by listing all the things she loves about him—in a [[JustFriends completely platonic]] manner.
--> '''Alexander''': What would you say if I told you ''I'' love you? Because I do! [[spoiler:Hadassah]], I love you! Doesn't
his best friend (and why Mr. Bingley finds it so easy to believe) is that make a difference?
--> [[spoiler:'''Hadassah''']]: I love you too, Alexander…I'll always love you for your kindness to me, for your compassion to countless others, for your hunger to know truth…
--> '''Alexander''': I wasn't speaking of brotherly love.
she treats Bingley the same kind, friendly way she treats ''everybody''.



* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' novel ''The Drodsen Curse'', the mindreading Bah-Sokhar reads the mind of Bryony and informs DoggedNiceGuy Putta that 'she loves you'. Putta is ecstatic until it adds 'she loves the Doctor'.

to:

* In Similar reasons kept Scott from acting on his attraction to Jenny in ''Literature/TeenIdol'', she's nice to everyone.
* Not this trope exactly, but close to it -- in
the ''Series/DoctorWho'' novel ''The Drodsen Curse'', one of the mindreading Bah-Sokhar reads ''Literature/{{Troubleshooters}}, Inc.'' books, (openly gay) Jules, during a romantic-pep/get-over-yourself talk he's giving his boss, Max, says, "I love you," -- but when he sees the mind of Bryony sympathetic/uncomfortable look on Max's face, laughs and informs DoggedNiceGuy Putta that 'she loves you'. Putta is ecstatic until it adds 'she loves the Doctor'.says, "Not like that!"



* In ''Series/{{Stacked}}'', Skyler (a bombshell played by Pamela Anderson) says "I love you" to Stuart, and he says it back. But Skyler (unlike Stuart) really did mean it in a generic, affectionate sense. When Stuart becomes clear on this, he pretends that he too is prone to say "I love you" in a casual, affectionate way--going so far as to say it to random customers in the bookshop where he and Skyler work.
* On an early episode of ''Series/That70sShow'', a nervous Eric says to Donna, "I love you… man." Thus spoiling the first three words.
** And that's his ''second'' attempt. On his first try he for some reason went with, "I love cake."
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': One scene involves Cordelia telling Angel "I love you." When a shocked Angel responds "What?", she says "Of course I love you." Then she calls out to where the others are working "Angel loves me and I love him. Don't you guys love Angel?" and Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all chime simultaneously "We love you, Angel!" It turns out that five minutes earlier everyone else was saying they loved each just in case they all die in the coming apocalypse.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In "The Gift", Buffy tells the Scoobies she loves all of them before their final battle against the BigBad. Spike, who's spent half the season trying to get Buffy to respond to his feelings, perks up at this.

to:

* In ''Series/{{Stacked}}'', Skyler (a bombshell played by Pamela Anderson) says "I love you" to Stuart, and he says it back. But Skyler (unlike Stuart) really did mean it in a generic, affectionate sense. When Stuart becomes clear on this, he pretends that he too is prone to say "I love you" in a casual, affectionate way--going so far as to say it to random customers in the bookshop where he and Skyler work.
* On an early episode of ''Series/That70sShow'', a nervous Eric says to Donna, "I love you… man." Thus spoiling the first three words.
''Franchise/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** And that's his ''second'' attempt. On his first try he for some reason went with, "I love cake."
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': One scene involves Cordelia telling Angel "I love you." When a shocked Angel responds "What?", she says "Of course I love you." Then she calls out to where the others are working "Angel loves me and I love him. Don't you guys love Angel?" and Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all chime simultaneously "We love you, Angel!" It turns out that five minutes earlier everyone else was saying they loved each just in case they all die in the coming apocalypse.
*
''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. In "The Gift", Buffy tells the Scoobies she loves all of them before their final battle against the BigBad. Spike, who's spent half the season trying to get Buffy to respond to his feelings, perks up at this.



* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Season 2, episode 1 "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang." Jack says "I came back for you", apparently to Ianto; we see Ianto; then back to Jack, who adds "all of you"; we see the rest of the team.

to:

* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Season 2, episode 1 "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang." Jack says ** ''Series/{{Angel}}'': One scene involves Cordelia telling Angel "I came back for you", apparently love you." When a shocked Angel responds "What?", she says "Of course I love you." Then she calls out to Ianto; we see Ianto; then back to Jack, who adds "all of you"; we see where the rest of others are working "Angel loves me and I love him. Don't you guys love Angel?" and Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all chime simultaneously "We love you, Angel!" It turns out that five minutes earlier everyone else was saying they loved each just in case they all die in the team.coming apocalypse.



* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Daphne overhears Frasier talking to the dog about how much he loves her, and doesn't understand he means it in a platonic sense. However, some further vagueness leads to Martin confirming that one of his sons is actually ''in'' love with her, with Frasier eventually clarifying that it's his brother, Niles.



* ''Series/JandaKembang'': Early in episode 28, Wulan explains that she immediately goes to cheer Malik up after college because she loves him, but she can't bring herself for a love confession yet, and continues with saying that she wants to make sure her "friend" is okay.
* When the eponymous ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' (an IdiotHero who's ObliviousToLove) was asked if there was someone he likes, we get this gem.
-->"Everybody I've ever been friends with. Everybody I'm currently friends with. And everybody I'm ever gonna be friends with."
* Used in ''Series/LostGirl'' during a scene between Bo and Lauren in second season finale.
-->'''Bo:''' I love you… all, so much.
* In ''Series/{{Stacked}}'', Skyler (a bombshell played by Pamela Anderson) says "I love you" to Stuart, and he says it back. But Skyler (unlike Stuart) really did mean it in a generic, affectionate sense. When Stuart becomes clear on this, he pretends that he too is prone to say "I love you" in a casual, affectionate way--going so far as to say it to random customers in the bookshop where he and Skyler work.
* A variation occurs on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Odo is talking to Kira about his name, which literally translates into "nothing", and how [[MeaningfulName appropriate]] he used to find it. He thought "nothing" described him perfectly, "and then I met you… and the others."
** The Vulcanian word t'hy'la, which means friend, brother, or lover, can lead to this sort of ambiguity as to whether the Vulcan in question is in love with a particular person, or views them as a friend. Compounded by the fact that Vulcans do not really enjoy expressing their emotions.



* A variation occurs on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Odo is talking to Kira about his name, which literally translates into "nothing", and how [[MeaningfulName appropriate]] he used to find it. He thought "nothing" described him perfectly, "and then I met you… and the others."
** The Vulcanian word t'hy'la, which means friend, brother, or lover, can lead to this sort of ambiguity as to whether the Vulcan in question is in love with a particular person, or views them as a friend. Compounded by the fact that Vulcans do not really enjoy expressing their emotions.
* Used in ''Series/LostGirl'' during a scene between Bo and Lauren in second season finale.
-->'''Bo:''' I love you… all, so much
** This is made all the more conspicuous by the looooooong pause, and the fact that Bo and Lauren are ''alone'' during this conversation.
* When the eponymous ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'' (an IdiotHero who's ObliviousToLove) was asked if there was someone he likes, we get this gem.
-->"Everybody I've ever been friends with. Everybody I'm currently friends with. And everybody I'm ever gonna be friends with."
* In ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', Daphne overhears Frasier talking to the dog about how much he loves her, and doesn't understand he means it in a platonic sense. However, some further vagueness leads to Martin confirming that one of his sons is actually ''in'' love with her, with Frasier eventually clarifying that it's his brother, Niles.



* ''Series/JandaKembang'': Early in episode 28, Wulan explains that she immediately goes to cheer Malik up after college because she loves him, but she can't bring herself for a love confession yet, and continues with saying that she wants to make sure her "friend" is okay.

to:

* ''Series/JandaKembang'': Early in On an early episode 28, Wulan explains that she immediately goes of ''Series/That70sShow'', a nervous Eric says to cheer Malik up after college because she loves him, but she can't bring herself for a Donna, "I love confession yet, and continues with saying that she wants you… man." Thus spoiling the first three words. And that's his ''second'' attempt. On his first try he for some reason went with, "I love cake."
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'', Season 2, episode 1 "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang." Jack says "I came back for you", apparently
to make sure her "friend" is okay.Ianto; we see Ianto; then back to Jack, who adds "all of you"; we see the rest of the team.



* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', during a skit entitled "Girl Talk", Norma asks the sugary sweet, utterly clueless, and [[MsFanservice flat out buxom and GORGEOUS]] Grune about who her favourite boy in their party is. Grune thinks for a moment and answers that it must be Senel--to the horror of Chloe and Shirley, who both have strong romantic feelings for him and are nowhere ''close'' to competition for Grune in the looks department--only to cheerfully continue that she also loves Will, and Moses, and Jay, and Giet. (And just so the joke fully carries to those that haven't played the game: Giet is a "dog"… or some kind of wolf… ''thing'', anyway.)

to:

* This trope is exploited in ''VideoGame/{{Aveyond}}: Shadow of the Mist''. The main character, Boyle, is cursed by his AbhorrentAdmirer to marry her and the curse can only be broken by [[ThePowerOfLove true love]]. Now Boyle is a despicable villain, and no one could really love him -- not to mention, he doesn't really like having friends (much less a lover). His solution? Find an AllLovingHero priestess who loves "all children of the goddess" (basically everyone), and her "love" counts enough to reverse the curse.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', during a skit entitled "Girl Talk", Norma asks the sugary sweet, utterly clueless, and [[MsFanservice flat out buxom and GORGEOUS]] Grune about who her favourite boy in their party is. Grune thinks for a moment and answers ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 [[UpdatedRerelease Record Breaker]]'''s Triangulum Arc, after you encourage Al Saiduq to be more honest with Miyako, you can jokingly ask "Was that it must be Senel--to a LoveConfession?", and he'll respond with this trope. Given that he had essentially taken on the horror role of Chloe and Shirley, who both God before the arc started, TheFourLoves immediately spring to mind.
-->"I honestly confessed the love I
have for her. It is the same love I have for you and the others."
* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'': In one story, Adonis pledges that he wants to support and protect Anzu because he loves her (using 'aishitemasu', a ''very''
strong romantic feelings word for him love in Japanese that is rarely used in real life). When she immediately becomes flustered, he reacts with confusion - his idol unit sings lyrics like that all the time! Why would this be something strange?
* Played with in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. GenkiGirl Cynthia
and are nowhere ''close'' to competition for Grune in the looks department--only to cheerfully continue TheStoic Gerome's support conversation has her mention that she also loves Will, "loves him!" Gerome blushes and Moses, attempts to get her to clarify her meaning, but she breezes on, and Jay, it seems like a classic case of oblivious plucky girl not realizing the double-meaning. However, in the last stage of their support, Cynthia confirms, and Giet. (And just so the joke fully carries to those that haven't played the game: Giet is a "dog"… or some kind of wolf… ''thing'', anyway.)can hardly believe Gerome didn't realize -- she'd told him she loved it when he called her heroic and beautiful!



* Variation in ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts''. TheRival/[[TheAce Ace]] Chalcedny has just got done confessing to the woman he loves, and to cap it off, swears to bring her a world where she can smile. It's a fairly powerful scene… until the main character Shing steps up and declares, "We'll give you that world too!" The rest of the party drags Shing off as he protests, "It's better if everyone helps together, right?"
* [[ObliviousToLove Lloyd]] hits both Colette and Sheena with this in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
** Sheena faces this in her scene at the Altamira suite, when she suggests she and Lloyd come back there sometime. Lloyd says he thinks everybody might enjoy that, much to her frustration.
** During one skit, “All Guys Are The Same!,” for... research purposes, Colette asks Lloyd if girls like Princess Hilda are his type. Lloyd says he thinks Hilda is pretty, then says he thinks Colette is cuter, then proceeds to complement all the other girls in the party, angering Colette and making her think he’s just like [[HandsomeLech Zelos]].
* In "The Tower of Power", one of the officially-released player levels for ''VideoGame/{{VVVVVV}}'', this is the response given when Professor Vitellary requests Captain Viridian's opinion of the crew of the DSS Souleye. This is made even worse by the fact that Captain Viridian's gender is unknown to the player.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. GenkiGirl Cynthia and TheStoic Gerome's support conversation has her mention that she "loves him!" Gerome blushes and attempts to get her to clarify her meaning, but she breezes on, and it seems like a classic case of oblivious plucky girl not realizing the double-meaning. However, in the last stage of their support, Cynthia confirms, and can hardly believe Gerome didn't realize -- she'd told him she loved it when he called her heroic and beautiful!
* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 [[UpdatedRerelease Record Breaker]]'''s Triangulum Arc, after you encourage Al Saiduq to be more honest with Miyako, you can jokingly ask "Was that a LoveConfession?", and he'll respond with this trope. Given that he had essentially taken on the role of God before the arc started, TheFourLoves immediately spring to mind.
-->"I honestly confessed the love I have for her. It is the same love I have for you and the others."
* This trope is exploited in ''VideoGame/{{Aveyond}}: Shadow of the Mist''. The main character, Boyle, is cursed by his AbhorrentAdmirer to marry her and the curse can only be broken by [[ThePowerOfLove true love]]. Now Boyle is a despicable villain, and no one could really love him -- not to mention, he doesn't really like having friends (much less a lover). His solution? Find an AllLovingHero priestess who loves "all children of the goddess" (basically everyone), and her "love" counts enough to reverse the curse.



* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** Variation in ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts''. TheRival/[[TheAce Ace]] Chalcedny has just got done confessing to the woman he loves, and to cap it off, swears to bring her a world where she can smile. It's a fairly powerful scene… until the main character Shing steps up and declares, "We'll give you that world too!" The rest of the party drags Shing off as he protests, "It's better if everyone helps together, right?"
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', during a skit entitled "Girl Talk", Norma asks the sugary sweet, utterly clueless, and [[MsFanservice flat out buxom and GORGEOUS]] Grune about who her favourite boy in their party is. Grune thinks for a moment and answers that it must be Senel--to the horror of Chloe and Shirley, who both have strong romantic feelings for him and are nowhere ''close'' to competition for Grune in the looks department--only to cheerfully continue that she also loves Will, and Moses, and Jay, and Giet. (And just so the joke fully carries to those that haven't played the game: Giet is a "dog"… or some kind of wolf… ''thing'', anyway.)
** [[ObliviousToLove Lloyd]] hits both Colette and Sheena with this in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
*** Sheena faces this in her scene at the Altamira suite, when she suggests she and Lloyd come back there sometime. Lloyd says he thinks everybody might enjoy that, much to her frustration.
*** During one skit, “All Guys Are The Same!,” for... research purposes, Colette asks Lloyd if girls like Princess Hilda are his type. Lloyd says he thinks Hilda is pretty, then says he thinks Colette is cuter, then proceeds to complement all the other girls in the party, angering Colette and making her think he’s just like [[HandsomeLech Zelos]].
* In "The Tower of Power", one of the officially-released player levels for ''VideoGame/{{VVVVVV}}'', this is the response given when Professor Vitellary requests Captain Viridian's opinion of the crew of the DSS Souleye. This is made even worse by the fact that Captain Viridian's gender is unknown to the player.



* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'': In one story, Adonis pledges that he wants to support and protect Anzu because he loves her (using 'aishitemasu', a ''very'' strong word for love in Japanese that is rarely used in real life). When she immediately becomes flustered, he reacts with confusion - his idol unit sings lyrics like that all the time! Why would this be something strange?



* In ''VisualNovel/MyGirlfriendIsThePresident'' this happens in [[LiteralMinded Ell's]] route. [[LampshadeHanging Jun points out how cliched this is.]]



* In ''VisualNovel/MyGirlfriendIsThePresident'' this happens in [[LiteralMinded Ell's]] route. [[LampshadeHanging Jun points out how cliched this is.]]



* Roomie from ''Webcomic/GoGetARoomie'' just loves everyone. Though she doesn't seem to ''love'' love anyone. She falls in a complicated spot in between AllergicToLove, and AnythingThatMoves.



* Roomie from ''Webcomic/GoGetARoomie'' just loves everyone. Though she doesn't seem to ''love'' love anyone. She falls in a complicated spot in between AllergicToLove, and AnythingThatMoves.



* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', Princess Bubblegum rebuffs her [[DoggedNiceGuy persistent suitor]] Braco by telling him that her love for him is the "undifferentiated love [she feels] for all candy citizens", but also gives him a [[RobotMe robot duplicate]] of her to make the relationship feel more personal on his end.



* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':

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* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':



* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', Princess Bubblegum rebuffs her [[DoggedNiceGuy persistent suitor]] Braco by telling him that her love for him is the "undifferentiated love [she feels] for all candy citizens", but also gives him a [[RobotMe robot duplicate]] of her to make the relationship feel more personal on his end.
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*** And at the end of the day the trope [[spoiler: ends up subverted in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' as Rex did go on to marry and impregnate Nia alongside Pyra and Mythra afterwards.]]
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->'''Leela:''' [[FriendToAllLivingThings I love every living creature]].\\

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->'''Leela:''' [[FriendToAllLivingThings I love every living creature]].creature.\\
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* ''Series/JandaKembang'': Early in episode 28, Wulan explains that she immediately goes to cheer Malik up after college because she loves him, but she can't bring herself for a love confession yet, and continues with saying that she wants to make sure her "friend" is okay.
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* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', at one point a dying Castiel looks up at Dean and says "I love you" ...and then glances at all of the rest of the people gathered around him and adds, "I love all of you."
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* ''Manga/ShesMyKnight'': Both Ichinose and Sakurako get this response when they try to make a LoveConfession to [[OblivioustoLove Mogami]].
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In English we have ''love'' for deep romantic love ("I love you, Alice."), or [[PlatonicLifePartners deep platonic love]] ([[HeterosexualLifePartners "I love you, man"]]), or [[TrademarkFavoriteFood shallow love of foodstuffs]] ("God, I love pastrami"). There's also times where romantic affection occurs but is not as deep as love, in which case "love" is considered deeply inappropriate. So you have ''like'', or the rather pubescent ''like''-like which is different from just "like". Confused? Well, it carries over into other languages too. The French can be confused by ''copain'' and ''ami''. The German language has a single word ''Freund'' for male friend or boyfriend and a single word ''Freundin'' for female friend or girlfriend, while ''daisuki'' (or the plain, less emphatic form, ''suki'') is a popular word used in {{anime}} for affection, but it can be very nebulous out of context (''aishiteru'', on the other hand, is very clear in its meaning and more or less cannot be taken any other way).

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In English we have ''love'' for deep romantic love ("I love you, Alice."), or [[PlatonicLifePartners deep platonic love]] ([[HeterosexualLifePartners "I love you, man"]]), or [[TrademarkFavoriteFood shallow love of foodstuffs]] ("God, I love pastrami"). There's also times where romantic affection occurs but is not as deep as love, in which case "love" is considered deeply inappropriate. So you have ''like'', or the rather pubescent ''like''-like which is different from just "like". Confused? Well, it carries over into other languages too. The French can be confused by ''copain'' and ''ami''. The German language has a single word ''Freund'' for male friend or boyfriend and a single word ''Freundin'' for female friend or girlfriend, while ''daisuki'' (or the plain, less emphatic form, ''suki'') is a popular word used in {{anime}} for affection, but it can be very nebulous out of context (''aishiteru'', on the other hand, is very clear in its meaning and more or less cannot be taken any other way).
way). Likewise in Spanish, ''novio/novia'' can mean "boyfriend/girlfriend," "fiancée," or "groom/bride."
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-->'''Zhaan:''' I love you.\\
'''Aeryn:''' You what?\\
'''Zhaan:''' I love you.\\
'''Aeryn:''' ''(jumps up and takes several steps away)'' Ohh, yes - I did hear it the first time, and you know what? I...\\
'''Zhaan:''' I love all living beings.
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* Subverted in ''Anime/AnohanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay''. Menma loves everyone in the Super Peace Busters, but she is well-aware that the love she feels for Jintan is something beyond mere friendship.

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