Ever since Bill Milliken, a Christian minister working with at-risk youth in New Yorks lower East Side, wrote a book in 1968 by the title, Tough Love, the phrase he coined has caught on like hot cakes.

Where did tough love come from?

The phrase “tough love” was by all accounts coined by community activist Bill Milliken in a book by the same name. Milliken, who was once a “street worker” engaged in keeping at-risk youth connected to the education system, advocated for a no-nonsense behavioral modification tactic.