What is the US equivalent of "fancy"?

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I mean as a verb, like in England a girl says that she "fancies" a guy, and I can't think of an equally concise US expression for the same thing.

Every American equivalent I can think of seems to have a sexual undertone of some sort, whereas it is my impression that an English girl can fancy a guy without necessarily having decided to have sex with him.

Maybe "like" or "like in that way"? As "like" by itself doesn't necessary mean the same thing as "fancy" although it could. Besides, "like in that way" is an entire phrase, plus although it's a common expression, it's by no means universal.

Am I just losing my memory?

"She fancies a guy."

Yeah, we use that term here too, but not often. Mostly, it's "She's interested in a guy".

Sometimes, it is more crudely put, like "She has the hots for a guy" or "She is warm for his form". Either of these statements exaggerate the interest she may have, and the crudeness of the statements may be embarassing to both the girl and the guy.

A concise word which has the same meaning is "dig."

I really "dig" this chick!

I really "dig" that woman with whom I conversed at the library.

"infatuated", "smitten", "crush", etc.

The 1960s just called, Kortie. They want their vocabulary back.

I've heard "fancy" used in the same manner in the southwest. I think that it was mainly by more educated people.

Last edited by kokopelli on 22 Aug 2018, 5:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

People still occasionally say "dig." And it is the exact, concise cognate of "fancy."

She wants you
She has the hots for you
She's making googly eyes at you

I'm not sure we're fancy enough.

I say "into". As in, she's into him. It's like a short form of "interested".

This may be the best suggestion so far.

Can you dig it?

Co-signed. Of the few words and phrases that came to mind, this was going to be my post.

The only context I have seen the word "fancy" used here is in the title of a magazine-Cat Fancy!

My best guess is "like" or "love."

I am sorry, Kraftiekortie, but I got the biggest laugh at the comment above.

you're correct. Americans don't use the word "fancy" that way (though we have no problem understanding Brits when when we hear them use "fancy" that way in movie dialogue).

We say things like "have a crush on so and so", or sometimes we just say "like" ( he likes her). Trouble is that just using the word "like" that way is more ambiguous than "fancy" because it not clear which kinda "like" you mean ( just meaning "I get along with so and so", or do you mean " I am attracted to so and so in sexual/romantic way"). There was a funny episode of the "Wonder Years" sitcom ( about middle school teens) devoted to that ( "do you mean 'like', or do you mean 'LIKE like'?").