📖 Meaning
Describes a feeling of being startled and profoundly uneasy, as though one's heart is being rapidly struck with a pestle. The vivid imagery conveys intense alarm and inner restlessness.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no single documented literary origin tied to a specific text or historical figure. It is a descriptive phrase that uses the vivid metaphor of a rapidly pounding pestle striking the heart, drawing from the common traditional Chinese tool of a pestle and mortar used in households. The image of the heart being beaten conveys a sense of alarm and disquiet. Over time it became a fixed expression for describing a startled, restless emotional state.
💡 Example Usage
听到这个噩耗，他急杵捣心，半天说不出话来。
Upon hearing the tragic news, his heart pounded with alarm and he could not speak for a long while.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 急杵捣心
- Pinyin: jí chǔ dǎo xīn
- Literal Translation: rapid, pestle, pound, heart
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4