Interesting thread.
Some of English language between America and British are not same. I thought "crush" is an American language until I read your thread. I was like
Yes, I often saw the word "crush" around here AD for a year since I registered here last January 2004. It took me few months to recongize what they are talking about.
We (hearies & deafies) do not use those word "crush" in England but "fancy" when we mention how much we attract gals, guys, teachers, eg. Something like that: I fancy my teacher but I notice that American use "crush" when they mentioned how they crush their teachers.
Thank you for bring your interesting subject here.