Would you like to let someone know that your intentions are honest, or that you mean well and your emotions are being put forth with what you are about to say? The phrase 'wear your heart on your sleeve' and its variations can be used to say this. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this saying.
Meaning
The phrase 'wear your heart on your sleeve' is one that can be used to indicate that someone is open (or honest) about their feelings or the next phrase.
To say that someone 'wears (or is wearing) your heart on your sleeve' is a compliment can often be used to say someone is being sincere.
The expression can be used as a general complimentary phrase, which can be used for either speaking directly to someone or speaking about them.
The phrase can be used to refer to a single person or a group, and it might also be used as either a self-reference or one that references someone else.
There are also plural varieties of the phrase, to say that 'they wear their hearts on their sleeve' as one example.
Sometimes the phrase is used to refer to situations of love or close friendship, and the implication is that honesty prevails.
Alternatively, the phrase could be used to mean that someone bares their emotions easily.
Example Usage
“I'm being honest when I ask you out for a shake at the burger place. What can I say? I wear my heart on my sleeve.”
“If you don't know what he's thinking, just ask him. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and you can almost always tell what's going on in his mind.”
“If you wear your heart on your sleeve, then maybe it's not a good idea to go and spill your guts over a beer at a poker game.”
“We wear our hearts on our sleeves, and we always say what we mean to the ones we love the most even if it's telling them that they should stop smoking crack by next Tuesday before the potluck dinner.”
Origin
The origin of the phrase '[to] wear your heart on your sleeve' is given as medieval times, where it is claimed to come from the ritual whereby a knot was made around a sleeve to indicate one person's love for another.
Some language resources dispute that this is the origin of the phrase, but also give no potential alternates for where the phrase could have come from.
It is most likely that the phrase could have come from the old custom, or originated in poker where 'heart' cards were often hidden under the sleeve. Thus, wearing your heart on your sleeve, would prove that you were not a card cheater and an honest person.
Modern use of the phrase does not always tie the meaning of the term to love, but the term can extend to general honesty and feelings.
Phrases Similar to Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve
- Honest abe
Phrases Opposite to Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve
- Cowboys don't cry
What is the Correct Saying?
- [to] wear your heart on your sleeve
Ways People May Say Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve Incorrectly
There are ways in which the phrase 'wearing your heart on your sleeve' can be understood in the wrong way, or used in the wrong context.
The term usually means emotional honesty or sincerity, though not always in the context of love as the original expression once did.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve
The phrase 'wearing your heart on your sleeve' is an expression that can be used to refer to someone's sincerity or emotional honesty, or sometimes to their overt naivety.
Someone can 'wear their heart on their sleeve' as a third-party reference.
Someone can also be told the denial of the phrase, which is 'don't wear your heart on your sleeve'.