Tag Archives: heart idioms

Bodily expressions V: Chests, breasts and hearts

From Wellcome Images

From Wellcome Images

Continuing Glossophilia’s 10-part series on bodily expressions.

We’ve gathered all the phrases and expressions we can possibly think of that make use of bodily parts in all their glory — and divided them into ten broad categories* descending from head to toe (and then some …). We’ve left out one- and two-word euphemistic adjectives and tried to avoid expressions that refer too literally to our actual limbs, organs or orifices; what follows are phrases that tend towards the metaphorical and poetic, even though some can also be taken more literally.

Here we have phrases using chests, breasts, and the heart — that organ of multiple emotions and the home in which it beats. Up next: arms and hands, fingers and thumbs. Continue reading