Oxbridge students or anyone :) are you passionate about your courses?

Urgh, I get so irritated by the word 'passion'. Go through any personal statement/application resources and they all bang on about how you have to convey how 'passionate' about your subject you are, etc...the reality is, plenty of people I know chose a subject by process of elimination based on which A Level they disliked least.

I wouldn't say I'm 'passionate' about many things really. I hate certain areas of my own subject, but there are plenty more areas over which I can happily engage in a full-blown nerd-fest, and I chose my specific course because it covers the areas I most enjoy without including any of the 'waffley' bits. I really like my subject and I know I don't lack the motivation to spend the next 3 years studying it, but do I have an overwhelming, all-consuming passion for it? No.