Heart of Gold, to have a

Meaning of Idiom ‘Have a Heart of Gold’

To have a heart of gold means to be a very gentle, kind, caring, and generous person. ¹Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,²Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth M. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. Ware: Wordsworth, 1995.,³Pare, May. Body Idioms and More: For Learners of English. United States?: Mayuree Pare, 2005.

Usage

Someone described as having a heart of gold may or may not be outwardly friendly or good-natured. Consider, for example, “he’s grumpy but he has a heart of gold.”

Examples Of Use

“You’ve got the wrong idea about Tom. The man has a heart of gold.”

“My father had a heart of gold. He would give you the shirt off his back.”

“AD indicted him on three counts of murder before he was kicked off the force. Don’t sell me the hooker with a heart of gold.” — The Usual Suspects (1995)

“He’s financially secure. He’s great with the twins. Got a heart of gold…” — Little Fockers (2010)

“There were times when people accused Ray of being less than generous, but I am sure that deep down the man possessed a heart of gold and a generous spirit.” — The Frighteners (1996)

“Ernie’s got a heart of gold, but what an intimidation.” — Kingpin (1996)

“He’s traveled all over the world on photo assignments. He’s the guy that has a heart of gold and nerves of steel. He’ll do anything.” — The Cove (2009)

Origin

Used since the late 1500’s.

Here, gold is used to allude to something very valuable and precious. ⁴Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

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