Sweet Nothings
People acknowledge that a "sweet nothing" is a "nothing"; it has no content. So how can it be considered sweet?
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Messages (3)
Same way a piece of candy with no nutritive value can be considered sweet, I suppose.
Not that this vindicates the 'sweet nothing' concept all that much.
Sonic Charmer
It'd be sweeter if instead of saying 'sweet nothings' they just said nothing.
Sweet nothings are not nothing. They are phatic utterances: vocalizations that have the purpose of binding people together socially or lovingly.
rlubbock