positive "star-crossed"

[Ben Zimmer]

On Sun, Feb 5, 2012 at 12:05 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>
> My guess is that it's "star-crossed lovers" is associated with Romeo &
> Juliet, about whom pop culture remembers little except that they were
> crazy kids in love.
>
> It also sounds a little like "starry-eyed," which is how lovers are

The "starry-eyed" reanalysis makes sense for some non-romantic uses of
the phrase, e.g.:

http://www.fox43.com/wxin-indianapolis-native-and-former-indiana-offensive-lineman-james-brewers-switch-to-football-late-paved-his-way-to-super-bowl-xlvi-20120203,0,6340767.column
"Don't blame Giants offensive lineman if he might have seemed a tad
star-crossed at the prospect of being apart [sic] of Super Bowl XLVI."

--bgz

--
Ben Zimmer
http://benzimmer.com/

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