Would you like to let someone know that an event or gesture has really made all the difference in your day, and that something has had a deep emotional effect on you? The phrase 'heart touching' is a common English-language expression that can be used to say this. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this saying.
Meaning
The expression 'heart touching' is a common saying that can be used to indicate that something, usually an event or occurrence, has had a profound effect on someone's emotions.
The event that is said to be 'heart touching' is usually made clear by the rest of the context that surrounds what has been said.
The phrase is most often used as a statement or exclamation.
To say that something is 'heart touching' is acceptable, though someone can also choose to phrase it in different ways. Something can 'touch the heart' as acceptable use of the phrase, although this is rare.
If something is 'heart touching' it means to say that it has had a profound emotional effect, usually positive, on the speaker.
Something in the past tense can have 'touched the heart' as alternative acceptable use of the saying.
The phrase can also be said to reference something that 'touched our/their hearts' if the speaker refers to a group.
Similar phrases include 'heart wrenching' and 'heart warming'.
Example Usage
“I didn't notice the beggar in the corner until he started playing his guitar, and he sounded just about better than Hendrix and hotter than Clapton. It really touched my heart.”
“It really touched our hearts to find out that someone made an anonymous three-thousand dollar donation to our church. We could fix the roof.”
“It was really heart touching, seeing the old man there while he was feeding his dog in the park. Someday, someone is going to feed me like that.”
“It was so heart touching that you could go to church with us, even though we all saw a pigeon die horribly in the parking lot after the Reverend spoke to us.”
Origin
The phrase 'heart touching' can be traced back to early examples found in the 1600s, where the original form of the expression said that something is 'heart warming' or 'warms the heart' instead.
To say that something has 'touched the heart' is a metaphorical expression that states that it has had a, usually positive or intensive, emotional effect on someone.
After its use in the 1600s, the phrase 'heart touching' and its variations would gain more common usage in the English-speaking world thanks to publications and the printing press.
The phrase stuck, and its use continued well through several centuries with little change in its phrasing or meaning.
The term made its way to social media, and still continues to be used in the same way as in the time of its origin.
Phrases Similar to Heart Touching
- Heart wrenching
Phrases Opposite to Heart Touching
- N/a
What is the Correct Saying?
- Heart touching
- Touched the heart
Ways People May Say Heart Touching Incorrectly
There are several ways in which someone can misunderstand the phrase 'heart touching', or use the phrase in the wrong way if the context is not clear.
The expression is metaphorical, and something does not physically touch the heart: instead, the expression refers to the emotional effect that something might have had upon the speaker.
The common phrase 'heart touching' might not translate well into other languages as a direct phrase, and confusion can be common when the term is translated literally into languages without an equivalent phrase.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Heart Touching
The phrase 'heart touching' can be used in several ways, including to say that 'something has touched the heart' or that 'something has touched our hearts' if the speaker refers to several people.
'Heart touching' can also be close to the equivalent phrases of 'heart warming' or 'heart wrenching'.