Why is it called a "Crush" anyway? by Patty Blount

 This month, we're discussing first crushes. That got me thinking...why do we call that first glimmer of attraction for someone a "crush"?

Maybe, because they almost always end in heavy disappointment that feels like it permanently changes us. A quick jaunt down the rabbit hole of Google research told me that the word 'crush' likely evolved from the French verb, croissir, which means to smash or break something. By the 1500s, the word had taken on the mean "to crowd together." By the 1800's, the word 'mash' became popular, slang for infatuation or the object of an infatuation. The word, 'masher' extended the meaning to describe men who made unwelcome and often bold overtures toward women. And thus, 'crush' became cemented in the lexicon as a somewhat softer version of mash. 

Either way, mash or crush to this day describes that sudden onset of intense interest and attraction toward someone who's usually unaware of our interest and thus, crushes tend to be unrequited. They're often innocent --blushes, stammering, daydreaming, doodling little hearts around your initials. Crushes in adolescents are a rite of passage; they tell us our hearts are indeed working. 

I remember learning I was the object of someone's crush back in kindergarten. His name was Donald and he was a big lumbering blond boy with blue eyes and an annoying habit of calling me Bugs-Tricia, which even to this day, makes zero sense to me. He insisted on sitting next to me during carpet time, always offered me part of his snack, and was the first to raise his hand to partner with me whenever our teacher had us work in pairs. 

And I hated this -- and him -- with the fire of a thousand suns. 

Our mothers thought it was adorable and arranged a play date at his house. I hated every minute of that, too. I don't remember what happened after that day, except he eventually left me alone. 

I also don't remember feeling that way about someone else...being annoying, always in their face, fake-liking everything they liked. For me, it happened much later and with a celebrity, rather than a classmate. It was so much fun daydreaming about meeting him, about getting to hang out together. 

I didn't know this then, but those were the very first stories I 'wrote'. (They're not written down; they spun out in my mind.) Consider the lessons here for a writer: 

1. You don't personally know the celebrity. You know only the public persona or the work that person produces. So...you fill in the gaps by creating a character where there's only facade. You assign hopes and dreams to this person. 
2. You craft settings and situations around your "Meet Cute" - oh, and dialogue. Lots of witty dialogue you can't possibly manage in real life. 
3. You devise a conflict -- a jealous ex? Maybe a project that will compel your celebrity crush to leave for months without you? 
4. Most important lesson for the wannabe writer here is this: You build a world where only YOU can save your crush from his current Hollywood void of fake people and all the hands grabbing at him. In Romance fiction, that's a staple: how does THIS person fill the need for the love interest more so than all the other people that person has met before?

No, I won't tell you who the celebrity was. Stop asking :)