she harbors a crush on her sister's husband

[alpacinou]

Hello,

Can "harbor" be used to talk about crush and romantic feelings or is it just for negative feelings?

Are these okay?

She harbors a crush on her sister's husband.

She does not know Jack has been harboring deep feelings for her for quite some time.

If harbor does not work, what other verbs, other than have, can be used?

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't really like the collocation of "harbour" (BrE spelling) with "crush". I can't quite tell you why!

She has a crush on her brother-in-law. (That's the word for her sister's husband.)
She harbours feelings for her brother-in-law.

 

[alpacinou]

I don't really like the collocation of "harbour" (BrE spelling) with "crush". I can't quite tell you why!

She has a crush on her brother-in-law. (That's the word for her sister's husband.)
She harbours feelings for her brother-in-law.

I think harbor and crush don't go in terms of register, right? Harbor is kind of formal and literary.

So, is this okay? Does the tense work?

She does not know Jack has been harboring deep feelings for her for quite some time.

 

[GoesStation]

So, is this okay? Does the tense work?

She does not know Jack has been harboring deep feelings for her for quite some time.

That's fine.

 

[Tdol]

I think harbor and crush don't go in terms of register, right? Harbor is kind of formal and literary.

I just think have a crush is a standard collocation.

 

[GoesStation]

I just think have a crush is a standard collocation.

I kind of like harbors a crush, though it's not something I've seen before. It's a nice way to say she has a secret crush.

 

[tedmc]

I think "harbour" is usually associated with things negative and secretive, which crush doesn't really fit.

 

[tedmc]

I don't agree.

It appears to be so from the dictionaries.

https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/harbour

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I think "harbour" is usually associated with things negative and secretive, which crush doesn't really fit.

Yes. That's why I like Goes' comment. It's an unexpected turnaround that can be fun to read when the dissonance is intentional — but not when it's not.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I don't agree.

It depends. In general, I'll go along with Ted. But I might harbor a runaway for good, healthy, positive reasons. (It's still a secret, though. Don't tell anyone!)

 

[Tarheel]

I agree it's a bit of an uncommon collocation, but I like harbor a crush. It indicates to me it was a secret feeling.

 

[tedmc]

I agree it's a bit of an uncommon collocation, but I like harbor a crush. It indicates to me it was a secret feeling.

Harbour is used with plans, hopes and ambitions (okay, these are not negative things) which are deliberately thought out over time, whereas a crush is a natural, intuitive feeling. This could be why the latter collocation sounds better.

 

[Tarheel]

Ted, are you teaching me again?

 

[jutfrank]

Harbour is used with plans, hopes and ambitions (okay, these are not negative things) which are deliberately thought out over time, whereas a crush is a natural, intuitive feeling. This could be why the latter collocation sounds better.

Well, harbour is not only used with those things. It's also very typically used with secret feelings about something or somebody.

I imagine the metaphor comes from the idea that a harbour is a safe place to hide from danger. I think harbour a crush works quite well in this respect, in that revealing a crush you have could lead to getting hurt, emotionally.

If harbour a crush doesn't seem like a natural collocation, it's not to do with meaning but simply the number of times (if any) that a speaker has heard that particular combination of words.

 

[tedmc]

Ted, are you teaching me again?

If I had wanted to do that, I would have used "this is" instead of "this could be". ;-)