ESL Discussion

English words often morph into other words and phrases which convey strong emotions.

For example, the word “heart,” which originally referred to a specific bodily organ, has taken on additional meanings about strong, warm, caring feelings.  Here are some examples.

good-hearted: kind and generous.  

The good-hearted woman always did whatever she could to help the needy.

heartless: cruel

The heartless ruler did not care that many of his people were very poor.

have a heart:  to be kind, sympathetic, forgiving, sympathetic, or compassionate

He begged his girlfriend to have a heart and not criticize him so much. 

heartstrings:  deepest emotions.  

The sad story pulls on everyone’s heartstrings.

Note:  the word “heartstrings” is almost used with the phrase “pull(s) on.”

Even though a person may have stayed in many different places, his real home is the place he has good, strong, feelings about.

Home is where the heart is.

heartfelt:  deeply felt

He gave his heartfelt thanks to the people who had helped him so much.

the bottom of my heart:  very deep feeling

You have been very good to me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The meaning of the word “heart” has come a long way. A drawing of a heart which is not biologically accurate and a typographical representation of a heart (<3) now symbolize love. 

I found a lot of information on idioms in this free online dictionary, idioms.thefreedictionary.com, which gives definitions and sentences containing the idioms.  I suggest that you hunt in this dictionary for other idioms containing the word “heart.” When you learn them, you will have a richer vocabulary with more ways to express strong emotions.