Don't get me wrong , I'm pretty sure I've "liked" some boys before but those were just infatuations looking back. When can you tell you're falling in love for someone? What does the term "crush" mean? Does it differ from infatuation?
I always thought crush and infatuation were the same. Crush is basically that you like the person, get butterflies, are obsessed about them, and create a perfect picture in your head. When you're in love, you know who the person is and what their flaws are- with the attraction involved. You tend to want what's best for them even when it hurts. I also believe that you can be in love with someone who doesn't like you back, and you can be just infatuated with someone you're in a relationship with. The difference is the time, length and maturity involved.
I think it's all about how you see yourself and the amount of self-acceptance. For me, crush sounds a bit more positive -- so you don't really know the person, but you could get to know them... if they're not famous or something. But with infatuation, you're more critical because it might be a bit 'wrong'. I'm just thinking what it would be like to say that "I'm infatuated with someone." It doesn't make sense. Maybe if I was really conflicted and thought that part of me was infatuated, that would make sense. But if I fully like someone, at the time it would always be a crush. After it blows over, I might say "maybe I was infatuated? 200 SMS messages every day didn't seem stalkerish at the time."
I think Wasgij raises some good points. Usually when people refer to a "crush", it's someone that they don't know well - but would like to get to know better. It does tend to be someone that is admired from afar (to some extent). Even though the feelings are strong, it's partially imagination that fuels the "crush" because a proper relationship hasn't yet formed.
