What does "the way something happens" means

Question

I looked out for the meaning and found something like this "if you mention the way something happens, you are mentioning the fact it happens" on collins dictionary, so going by this if someone just say

I hate the way he manipulates people, Does this imply that the speaker only hate the fact that he manipulates other or speaker dont mind his manipulations just the methods he is using to do so? So if there is not any context available which one should i consider, i'm still confused about it.

Also, in the Eminem's song Love the way you lie, does this line carried the implication that rihanna loved the lies told to her or just the ways used to do so.

Answer 1

Such texts are ambiguous, in the absence of clarifying context. The sentence

I hate the way he manipulates people.

can mean any of:

• I hate the fact that he manipulates people.
• I hate the manner in which he manipulates people.
• I hate the method by which he manipulates people.
• I hate the degree to which which he manipulates people.

Indeed it sometimes means all of these at once. In the absence of any clarifying context, many fluent speakers would probably assume the first meaning, that the objection is to the simple fact of manipulation.

as to the song lyrics in "Love the way you lie" the chorus seems clearly both satirical and metaphorical. The character singing the chorus does not "love" the emotional pain and lies, rather she hates them. It is not clear if she hates the specific manner of lies, or the mere fact of lies being told, or perhaps most likely, both.

Answer 2

"the way" refers to a particular manner in which he manipulates people. In other words, you hate how he manipulates people.

You think he manipulates people.
You think he manipulates people in a certain way.
You hate that way.

The second part of your question is off-topic because it's opinion-based. That said, I think she likes how he lies, the way he tells lies, the way he carries himself when he does so.