Wear One’s Heart
on One’s Sleeve
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome on board this
flight from Incredible Idioms 5 to Incredible Idioms 6. You may have noticed
that once again we borrowed something from Cabin Pressure, but to our defense –
we love Cabin Pressure series. These past few days I’ve been doing nothing
creative, so I decided to put an end to it and write something. Go me!As the title suggest, I am going to write about the idiom wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve. Why this one? Because while watching several interviews with Tom Hiddleston I stumbled upon one that was truly inspiring. In that particular interview he says: “Never stop. Never stop fighting. Never stop dreaming. And don’t be afraid of wearing your heart on your sleeve - in declaring the films that you love, the films that you want to make, the life that you’ve had, and the lives you can help reflect in cinema. For myself, for a long time… maybe I felt inauthentic or something, I felt like my voice wasn’t worth hearing, and I think everyone’s voice is worth hearing. So if you’ve got something to say, say it from the rooftops.”
In this great message he manages to use the
incredible idiom wear your heart on your sleeve. All dictionaries agree that it
means to show and declare one’s feelings and emotions openly. And to follow Tom’s
advice I am declaring that I love him!
What interests me more is the origin of this
idiom. During my research I found out that it may derive from the custom of the
middle age. And you can guess which one. Yeah, jousting matches. You know when
knights used to wear the ribbons or some cloth tied to their sleeves. The ribbons
from their ladies. Just like Guinevere gives one to prince Arthur in this video:
But what is even more interesting is that this idiom was first used by Shakespeare in the play Othello.
Iago:
It is sure as you are Roderigo,
Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:
In following him, I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so, for my peculiar end:
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.
So this is it from me today. I think this is more than enough. I sincerely that from now on I will be posting more often. Till the next time...
