Using figurative collocations with the word heart

You must already know that heart is very often related to feelings and emotions. Although we all know that the only thing it really does is pump blood through one's body, people tend to give it a much deeper meaning. And that's good. After all if it wasn't for that, there wouldn't be so many expressions and figurative usage in our speaking. And that's exactly what we're touching on today.

For example, when we say that someone doesn't have a heart, it doesn't mean he's been waiting for a heart transplant. It just means the person is not kind and doesn't care much for others. The same way, if you say that someone has a very kind heart, you're just saying he's a very good person. In the case you see someone acting like a jerk, showing no respect at all for others, you can simply ask: Have you no heart?

If there's some girl you're trying to get and then eventually you finally succeed, you can say you stole her heart. The same way, if during your relationship with her you end up hurting her feelings, somebody can say you broke her heart. Those are very common ways of using the word heart to refer to real feelings. But let's cut the easy part and get to something more challenging.

Let's talk about emotions that can literaly cause some excitement in our heart. For example, when you feel such a strong emotion, bet it from joy or sadness, you may feel like your heart is jumping out of your chest. Let's say you did an interview in a big company and have been waiting for the answer since then. One day you get a call from your interviewer saying you've passed the test and now you're part of the campany staff. While telling a friend about how you felt at the very moment you heard him saying that, you say that your heart missed a beat with such joy.

Sadness is something that can also be attached to the heart. When you're very depressed, you can say your heart aches. Maybe your heart is aching because your heart desires someone you can't have. Maybe you're so sad for not having the person you love that you feel the need of pouring out your heart to one of your friends. That is to say, opening your heart.