This hand heart, displayed by millennial couple Swift and Kelce, is formed using both thumbs to form the bottom, bending and connecting the remaining fingers at the fingernails to form the desired shape. In recent years, however, the practice has evolved. Gen Z — pioneers of internet trends, subverting subcultural approaches into pop — now strictly use their index and middle fingers to form the heart, as opposed to the entire hand.

Choosing which hand heart sign to use is, these days, arguably a signal of which kind of love you’re intending to display: cupped whole-hand hearts might appear more earnest, more significant, while Gen Z’s chosen style is more flippant, more casual and cheeky. A Gen Z colleague and source of true expertise told me finger hearts are “simpler, quicker to achieve and require a lot less energy — as with everything Gen Z do (I am a millennial). The heart is more visible to both the sharer and receiver and easier to connect, should another person want to complete the other side.” Perhaps the Greeks would use the whole hand to show pragma — enduring, matured love — and the finger hearts for ludus, the crush, affection between young lovers.

In ASL (American Sign Language), the signal to present love and positivity is a simple, direct gesture. Similar to the ubiquitous ‘rock-on’ hand sign, the fist is formed facing forward, but instead, to show love, the thumb is extended. It’s a clear, recognisable signal that can be used universally, not only for the hearing impaired. Perhaps it’s the sign we should use when the language of love seems too much — or, as the idiom goes, when it’s all Greek to me.