after my own heart
5
7.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
a mi manera
- He loves classic literature, truly a man after my own heart.
- man after my own heart
- woman after my own heart
- girl after my own heart
He was on the on the outside and he's the one that God said, no, he's a man after my own heart.
- He was on the on the outside and he's the one that God said, no, he's a man after my own heart.
- You're like a, a, a, an excellent, like control freak after my own heart.
Examples
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You're a man after my own heart.
Blog text (24) -
A woman after my own heart.
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- Oh great, a man after my own heart.
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A man after my own heart.
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A girl after my own heart.
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A man after my own heart.
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But it was you, a man after my own heart, my companion, my own familiar friend.
Blog text (30) -
Oh, there's a woman after my own heart.
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You know, that Grantham's a man after my own heart.
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I must say, you're a man after my own heart.
How Appealing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'my own heart' clearly signal personal feelings or tastes (heart = emotions; my own = personal), so the overall sense 'in accordance with my tastes' is partially derivable. However, the preposition 'after' here means 'in the manner of' or 'according to'—a less literal/archaic use that B1 learners who only know the basic meanings may not predict, making the expression only partly transparent.
Etymology
After my own heart comes from the simple image of someone following the path of your feelings: after means 'following' and heart stands for what you like and believe. So when something is after my own heart, it is 'to be just what I like'.