Why do we say we have “an artichoke heart”?
The expression to be or to have “an artichoke heart” is quite simply derived from a vegetable image, as many artichoke leaves as lovers, to mean falling in love often and easily.
The heart of the artichoke (also called artichoke bottom) is the central part of the plant from which all the leaves are attached. It is the heart of the artichoke that is edible and not the bitter leaves of the vegetable. We therefore eat the heart and a little of this heart on each of the leaves that we detach as we eat the artichoke.
By analogy with the way of eating the artichoke, an artichoke heart gives a little of its love to each new person it meets.
And since there are many leaves in an artichoke, it makes them lovers!
It is therefore quite simply a metaphor between the many leaves (with a little heart for each) and the loves in spades.
The expression having or being "an artichoke heart" dates back to the 19th century. This is a simplification of the proverb: “heart of artichoke, a leaf for everyone”. This popular phrase suggests that we give a leaf to everyone, as a person who falls easily in love gives a little love to everyone, changing with each new love.
In English, having an artichoke heart is called “to be fickle” (literally being inconsistent, changing and not “to have an artichoke heart”).
