A metaphorical and rather elusive phrase which is used to describe having obsessive thoughts over another person or group (usually followed by 'in my
head').
The elusive part, imo, comes from the phrase's seeming implication that someone wants to live inside your
head, as in they wanted you to think about them, when it's often the opposite case (i.e. you obsess about them and they don't know/it wasn't their plan).
So when I say "Jake is living rent-free in
Sally's mind", it doesn't imply that Jake has successfully enamoured
Sally with his charm. What it really means is that Jake is unaware that he is the object of obsession in
Sally's mind. But since Jake is unaware, his pov becomes nullified and therefore defaults to
Sally's pov ("
Sally is obsessed with Jake"). This phrase 𝘤𝘢𝘯 be used to imply that Jake had successfully infatuated Sally, however most people tend to use it for its inverse meaning. It can also be used for someone beyond just your
crush, such as someone who hates you.
Just shining some light on the hidden logic behind this phrase, which some people might find confusing (e.g. me).
𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲:
Maddy: Who are you staring at?
Ophelia: No
one...
Maddy: Damien'
s living rent
free in your
head, I can tell.
𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲:
Rust Teammate 1: Hey I was away for a few days, fill me in.
Rust Teammate 2: We just pulled off a massive raid on one of the most heavily fortified bases, and we destroyed it to smithereens!
Rust Teammate 1: Damn! nice!! I guess we must be living rent-free in those team's heads now, hahaha.