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Why Do We Say 'Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve'?

The phrase 'wear your heart on your sleeve' may come from medieval jousts.

Word History

Why Do We Say 'Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve'?

The answer may come from medieval jousts

We use the phrase "wear your heart on your sleeve" in a casual way to say that we are showing our intimate emotions in an honest and open manner. But why are we "wearing" our emotions? And why a sleeve? Before getting to the heart of this matter, we should turn to the first recorded use of the expression, which is in William Shakespeare’s Othello.

It's likely that the phrase "wear your heart on your sleeve" comes from medieval jousts, where a 'sleeve' referred to a piece of armor which covered and protected the arm. Knights would often wear a lady's token around their sleeve of armor.

In the Bard’s tragedy, it is none other than the dishonest and villainous Iago who speaks the words to his confederate Rodrigo:

For when my outward action doth demonstrate / The native act and figure of my heart / In complement extern, 'tis not long after / But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve / For daws [birds] to peck at: I am not what I am.

Iago's imagery effectively conveys his belief that when what he feels in his heart is openly revealed, he will become vulnerable to attack. But why did Shakespeare choose the image of a heart upon a sleeve of all things? How did such a turn of phrase come about? Quite possibly, it originated in medieval jousts.

In the Middle Ages, sleeve not only referred to a part of a garment covering the arm but to a piece of armor for covering and protecting the arm. When participating in a joust, knights would often dedicate their performance to a lady of the court and wear something of hers, such as a scarf or ribbon, around their sleeve of armor, which indicated to the tournament's spectators which lady the knight favored. This chivalrous and affectionate gesture may be the source of the saying "wear your heart on your sleeve."

But, alas, this is mere conjecture since evidence is lacking that shows the phrase was used in reference to a knight outwardly displaying who his object of affection was. The only certainty is that by the 17th century, a figurative meaning of the phrase existed, as attested by Shakespeare's use, to express emotional honesty and openness.

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Wear one's heart on one's sleeve definition and meaning

Wear one's heart on one's sleeve definition: If you wear your heart on your sleeve , you openly show your feelings or emotions rather... | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples

wear one's heart on one's sleevewear one's heart on one's sleeveEnglish: wear one's heart on one's sleeveAmerican: wear one's heart on one's sleevewear one's heart on one's sleeve

Definition of 'wear one's heart on one's sleeve'

wear one's heart on one's sleeve

PHRASE

If you wear your heart on your sleeve, you openly show your feelings or emotions rather than keeping them hidden.

See full dictionary entry for heart

COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

wear one's heart on one's sleeve

PHRASE [V and Ns inflect]

If someone wears their heart on their sleeve, they behave in a way that makes their feelings very obvious, for example when they are in love with someone.

See full dictionary entry for sleeve

COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

You may also like English Quiz Confusables Language Lover's Blog Translate your text Pronunciation Playlists Word of the day: 'aerodonetics' NEW from Collins! English Grammar Collins Apps English Quiz Confusables Language Lover's Blog Translate your text Pronunciation Playlists Word of the day: 'aerodonetics' NEW from Collins! English Grammar Collins Apps English Quiz Confusables Language Lover's Blog Translate your text

wear one's heart on one's sleeve

in British English

to show one's feelings openly

See full dictionary entry for heart

Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

wear one's heart on one's sleeve

in American English

to behave so that one's feelings or affections are plainly evident

See full dictionary entry for heart

Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.

wear one's heart on one's sleeve

in American English

a. to make one's intimate feelings or personal affairs known to all

She was not the kind who would wear her heart on her sleeve

b. to be liable to fall in love; fall in love easily

How lovely to be young and wear our hearts on our sleeves!

See full dictionary entry for heart

Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019 by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

wear one's heart on one's sleeve

wear mourning wear off wear on

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Definition of wear one's heart on one's sleeve from the Collins English Dictionary

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The Origins of Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve

Valentine's Day can be an occasion for quirky expressions of love

HISTORY

HISTORY The Origins of Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve

Valentine’s Day can be an occasion for quirky expressions of love

Emily Spivack February 14, 2013

Actress Raquel Torres, by Ruth Harriet Louis, 1920s. Courtesy VintageGal

It was during the Roman Empire that St. Valentine is said to have left a note to his jailer’s daughter, “From your Valentine” before his execution on February 14. Today, thanks to St. Valentine, cards expressing one’s heartfelt emotions, a. k. a. valentines, are given to that special someone.

To defer to a classic idiom: It’s a day to wear our heart on our sleeve.

We use the phrase casually, to mean exposing our true emotions, making ourselves vulnerable and letting it all hang out. The phrase is so pervasive that from Ringo Starr to Eminem to Carrie Underwood, those words-turned-lyrics have found their way into a range of musical genres.

Actress June Marlowe.

But, what kind of sleeve? And why on a sleeve and not a pants leg or around your neck? There’s no clear answer. But many legends attempt to get at the heart (it is Valentine’s Day, after all!) of the matter and may explain the source of the saying. The three most popular stories:

1. In the Middle Ages, Emperor Claudius II believed unattached men made better soldiers so he declared marriage illegal. As a concession, he encouraged temporary coupling. Once a year, during a Roman festival honoring Juno, men drew names to determine who would be their lady friend for the coming year. Once established, the man would wear her name on his sleeve for the rest of the festival.

2. Around that same time, it’s speculated, when a knight performed in a jousting match in the king’s court, he’d dedicate his performance to a woman of the court. By tying something of hers, like a handkerchief, around his arm, he’d let the court know the match would defend the honor of that woman.

3. Or, we can credit Shakespeare, where it may have first been recorded in writing:

Iago:

It is as 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 complement 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.

– Othello, Act 1, Scene 1, 56–65

In the circa 1603 play, Iago confesses to treacherous acts and says that by “wear my heart upon my sleeve,” or truly exposing himself, he’s basically invited black crow-like birds to peck away at him.

Heart-shaped tattoo. Image courtesy of Keltie Colleen

So maybe this Valentine’s Day, forgo the cloying Hallmark cards and flavorless Russell Stover chocolates. Take a risk of letting the “daws” have their way with you by affixing your darling’s name onto your arm. Or better yet, if you really, really mean it, ink it right into your flesh.

Girlfriend wears boyfriend’s photograph on her stockings, 1920s. Image courtesy of Dolores Delargo Towers

One step too far? Okay, how about just plastering pictures of your honey’s face onto your legs to show the world what he really means to you.

Emily Spivack | | READ MORE

Emily Spivack creates and edits the sites Worn Stories and Sentimental Value. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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