English, baby!

Heart Idioms

Date: Oct 05 2007

Lesson

If you get discouraged, you 'lose heart'.

At the moment you feel disappointed or discouraged your 'heart sinks'.

If you really really want to do or have something, you 'set your heart on' it.

If you find encouragement from something, you 'take heart'.

If you cannot refuse somebody something, even though you know it is not a good idea, you 'didn't have the heart to say no'.

If something will make you very sad, it will 'break your heart'.

If you care a lot about something, it is 'a subject close to your heart'.

If somebody is very kind and generous to others, they have 'a heart of gold'.

If you are no longer motivated to do something, your 'heart is not in it'.

Your truest inner feelings are your 'heart of hearts'.

In my heart of hearts, I never really wanted to leave here.
I'm happy in my management job but in my heart of hearts I'd rather still be a researcher.

If you change your mind, you 'have a change of heart'.

We weren't going to give him the promotion but then we had a change of heart.
After a change of heart, she finally agreed to move to Berlin.

If you are well-intentioned, your 'heart is in the right place'.

He is a bit rude sometimes but his heart is in the right place.
She makes a lot of mistakes but her heart is in the right place and she always does her best.

If you memorize something word by word you learn them 'by heart'.

I've decided to learn the English irregular verbs by heart.
There is no need to tell me about it. I've read so much about it that I know all the details by heart.

If you have an intimate discussion about your true feelings, you have a 'heart-to-heart' talk.

Something is bothering him. I'm going to have a heart-to-heart talk with him and find out what it is.
We need to have a heart-to-heart discussion and clear the air between us.

'At heart' can mean fundamentally, in one's deepest feelings.

He is a good all-round manager but at heart he's an engineer.
I want you to know that we have your best interests at heart in sending you to Berlin for a year.