The heart was once believed to be the seat of our emotions, and that is the basis for the idioms about the heart. When you say that someone has a heart of stone, it doesn’t mean that their heart is made out of stone even though that is what it sounds like. It means that the person has a mean or cruel nature. The heart has nothing to do with it.
simple wikipedia
Anatomically, the heart is a powerful muscle. Each time it beats, it sends oxygenated life-giving blood throughout our human body.
The heart does respond to the many emotions that we feel. Maybe that is why ancient people once thought that it was also responsible for our emotions. When we feel scared or horrified, our heart beats faster. Sometimes it beat so furiously that it feels as though it is going to fight its way out of the chest. It will quicken with joy when we see a loved one after a long absence. When we fall in love, our hearts feel light and happy, full of joy. When someone we love dies, our heart will feel as though it is ripping down the center and breaking.
Our brains send signals to our heart telling it how to beat. Still, down through the years, many idioms about the heart have been created.
I don’t feel that it is necessary to tell just what each idiom means, so this is more of a list article. There are notes after just a few of the idioms. But if you don’t understand exactly what one of them means, the internet makes to find the exact meaning of each one.
a big heart
after one’s own heart
a heart of gold
a heart of stone – this signifies a mean or cruel nature
all heart
at heart – in reality, fundamentally, basically
bare one’s heart
bleeding heart
break someone’s heart
by heart
capture/steal/win (one’s) heart
close/dear/near to (one’s) heart
cross one’s heart
didn’t have the heart
do someone’s heart good
eat one’s heart out – An article I’ve written, Eat Your Heart Out, explains this idiom.
faint of heart
find a way into/to (one’s) heart
find it in (one’s) heart
follow (one’s) heart
from the heart
gladden the/(one’s) heart
harden (one’s) heart
have (one’s) heart set on
have (one’s) (best) interests at heart
heart goes out to
heart in (one’s) mouth
heart is in the right place
heart of ice
heart of the matter
hearts and minds
heart’s desire
heart skips a beat
heavy heart
from the bottom/depths of (one’s) heart
in (one’s) heart of hearts
know (one’s) heart
lose heart
matters/affairs of the heart
melt (one’s) heart
nearly gave (one) a heart attack
(one’s) heart bleeds for
(one’s) heart is knocking
(one’s) heart is not in it
(one’s) heart leaps
(one’s) heart melts
(one’s) heart sinks
open (one’s) heart
out of the goodness/kindness of (one’s) heart
pour (one’s) heart/soul out
put (one’s) heart into
sick at heart
strike fear into (one’s) heart/into the heart of (one)
take heart
take (something) to heart
to (one’s) heart’s content
warm (one’s)/the cockles of (one’s) heart
wear (one’s) heart on (one’s) sleeve
with a sinking heart
with all (one’s) heart
young at heart
Do you know of any more heart idioms that you would like for me to add to this list? If so, please comment.
Writing Exercise: Look through the list of heart idioms. Choose your favorite one, research it, and write a story based on it. This article was written for Valentine’s Day, but who says your story needs to be a romance? You could write a mystery. Or maybe a horror story is crying to be written. A story of suspense could be at the tips of your fingers. You could also make your story a combination of several genres.
