old flame
Meaning: A former romantic partner, especially one whose memory still stirs affection.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: "Flame" for a beloved person, and for the passion itself, is attested in English from the 1600s, and the underlying metaphor is far older — Latin poets used flamma for exactly this, and the equation of love with fire is close to universal across languages. What the addition of "old" does is extend the metaphor rather than merely date it: fire is the rare thing that is defined by being consumed, so a flame that is old is one that has already burned through most of what fed it. The phrase therefore carries a specific implication that a neutral term like "former partner" does not — that the feeling was genuinely hot at the time, and that what remains is residual warmth rather than nothing at all.
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