Chinese idiom · 成语
心惊肉跳
Meaning
Heart startled, flesh trembling; intense fear.
Character by character
Origin and story
Literary usageAn anonymous Yuan play, Zheng Bao En, uses the related expression 心惊肉战. A woman who helped frame Qianjiao hears that the intended victim has been rescued, fears exposure, and tries to flee. Panic overwhelms her, and her legs fail her. The word 战 in that wording means trembling.
The familiar form with 跳 appears in later novels. In chapter 105 of Dream of the Red Chamber, Jia Zheng waits anxiously as the family's situation collapses around him. Both usages give fear a bodily force: the heart is alarmed and the flesh seems to jump. It can describe ordinary fright without implying any medical condition.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
那段悬崖上的玻璃栈道，看得我心惊肉跳。
Just looking at that glass walkway on the cliff made me tremble with fear.
Strong fright or anxious apprehension.