IdiomBody & Senses
English
Englisheat one's heart out
Meaning: To suffer silently in a hopeless situation.
Example: “He ate his heart out after she moved to another country.”
Origin: The image of grief eating a person from within is ancient; in Homer's Iliad the hero Bellerophon wanders alone "eating his own heart." In English the phrase is found from the 16th century. The teasing command "eat your heart out!", meaning "be jealous," is a 20th-century development.
More English idioms
- get something on the nose To do or understand something perfectly.
- get something through one's head To understand something that is difficult, especially because it is a shock, unwanted, or…
- give someone a hand To help someone.
- give one's right arm to do something To want something very much.
- give someone the shirt off one's back To give (figuratively) someone all one's possessions; to be very generous.
- gray matter Brain tissue and, by extension, intelligence.
Explore another collection: Compliments & Insults
Compliments and insults from around the world, from the sweet to the savage.
- Sei un salame You're a clumsy, dopey softie — said with a smile.
- Eres más corto que las mangas de un chaleco You're not the sharpest — a bit slow on the uptake.
- Du bist nicht die hellste Kerze auf der Torte You're a little dim — not the smartest in the room.
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