What on earth is a bleeding heart? And what does it mean for someone to be after your own heart? In this third and final part of the series, we conclude the list of top heart phrases in common use with this diverse set.
Read part two here.
11. ‘At heart‘
Meaning: In true nature
Know a car that pretends to be a family beater but is actually a true-blue enthusiast’s steed? Or a person who puts on an extrovert’s cloak for his job but is actually an introverted loner? Then in both cases you’ve known what the thing or the person is truly, at heart.
For something or someone to be a certain way at heart means for it or them to be that way authentically and naturally, when nobody’s watching or influencing, and when left alone to be or do the way they want. For after all, isn’t it said that no matter what the mind says, it’s the heart that truly knows what you want?
12. ‘Bleeding heart‘
Meaning: A soft-natured person
We all have that friend who cries at the movies, tears up from a harsh word, and breaks into sobs at the sight of poverty, disease or suffering. Such an angel is a bleeding heart.
A bleeding heart is a vulnerable soul, on whose consciousness emotions dance merrily; whose heart is in command of their feelings, and whose decisions, judgements and actions are governed by – you guessed it – their heart, rather than their mind. Just be sure not to confuse them with the flower of the same name, although that’s no coincidence, for as Shakespeare might say, a bleeding heart by any name is sure to be just as soft and sweet!
13. ‘Young at heart‘
Meaning: Having a youthful attitude
Is there, in your sphere of acquaintance, the presence of that blessed being who never seems to age in spirit, no matter how precipitately he advances towards dotage? If you do, you might just know someone who’s young at heart.
To be young at heart means to consider physical age moot; to throw ageist tropes to the wind and fly in the face of time, energetically waving at it as you pass. Being young at heart means a pervasion of youthful exuberance in your bones even if they creak; a zestfulness for life even if your knees complain; when age is just a number that fails to penetrate the timeless heart.
14. ‘Sick at heart‘
Meaning: Very sad and upset
Have you ever felt sad to your very marrow, grieved to the roots of your hair and the pit of your stomach, and just felt very, very sorry for yourself? If such an unfortunate state has ever beset you, you’ve been sick at heart.
To be sick at heart means to harbour acute melancholy; a sadness to the point of sickness; a profound and studied poignancy that overtakes you – such a fevered grip of intense sadness that’s possible not when your body is ill, but when your heart itself is sick.
15. ‘After (one’s) own heart ‘
Meaning: Similar to oneself
It is said that true friends do not agree with everything you say just out of politeness. Shunning hypocrisy and double speak, they say what they mean and mean what they say, so that your relationship is based on trust and integrity.
But just once in a while, someone comes along who’s both honest as well as convergent with you in their opinions, views and outlooks. They seem to have the same way of looking at things, very similar likes and dislikes, and generally a large degree of overlap in views, making them an alter ego. That’s when you say you’ve hit upon someone who takes after your own heart.
16. ‘Wear (one’s) heart on (one’s) sleeve ‘
Meaning: Express emotions and feelings openly
Are you a free spirit? One who’s not afraid to call a shovel a shovel, doesn’t eat their words, emotes outwardly, and is generally legible like an open book? Then you wear your heart on your sleeves.
To wear one’s heart on one’s sleeves means to betray your emotions, and not sweep them under the carpet, bite your lip and generally be all stoic and unmoved. It means to have your face be the index of your heart; laugh, cry, be moved, be roused, and be a constant reminder to everyone that life is an undulating, daily astonishing phenomenon that demands our constant response and frequent expression.
