wear your heart on your sleeve
Meaning: to display emotions openly; to be transparent about feelings.
Language: English
Literally: to wear your heart on your sleeve
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The documented source is Shakespeare. In Othello, first performed around 1604, Iago describes the danger of showing his true feelings openly, saying he would wear his heart upon his sleeve for daws to peck at — birds pecking at something exposed and defenseless being exactly the risk of visible emotion. The explanation usually offered for where Shakespeare got the image — that knights at tournaments tied a lady's favor around the sleeve to declare their devotion publicly — describes a real medieval custom, but no evidence links it directly to the phrase, and it is better treated as a plausible backdrop than as the origin. What is certain is that the line was memorable enough to carry the expression into ordinary English and keep it there for four centuries.
Equivalents in other languages
- Russian: душа нараспашку (dusha naraspashku) — literally: soul wide open
More idioms — Body & Senses
- have the wool pulled over your eyes — to be deceived or fooled.
- lower your guard — to relax defenses; to become vulnerable.
- fit as a fiddle — in excellent physical condition; healthy.
- keep your chin up — to remain optimistic; to stay courageous during difficulty.
- pitter-patter of little feet — the sound of children running; anticipation of having babies.
- be in someone's shoes — to understand someone's perspective; to experience their situation.
More English idioms
- mad as a box of frogs — completely crazy; chaotic and unpredictable.
- bark up the wrong tree — to pursue a wrong course; to blame the wrong person.
- not worth your salt — incompetent; not deserving of wages or respect.
- get your ducks in a row — to organize yourself; to prepare systematically.
- in a pig's eye — absolutely not; never; expressing strong disagreement.
- stick your oar in — to interfere in someone else's affairs; to meddle.
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