<ol>
<li><p>'To put; to place' and 'to release' are not entirely antonymous. The original logic in the character <code>放</code> is that you <em>release</em> something from your hand such that it is <em>placed</em> on a receptacle.</p>
</li>
<li><p>It can be literal, as in <code>他放下錢便走了</code> ('He left after putting down some money'); or figurative, as in <code>別放在心上</code>.</p>
</li>
<li><p>To be precise, you are advised 'not to put <em>something</em> on your heart'. Let us hypothesise and say <code>她的死</code> (her death) is the object, as in 'don't take her death to heart'. We can say <code>別放她的死在心上</code>, but it sounds better if we use the <code>把</code>-construction, as in <code>別把她的死放在心上</code>. The object is thus usually fronted in the sentence, which may be a source of your confusion.</p>
</li>
</ol>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-05T10:53:20.903Z
2021-04-05T11:10:44.597Z
2021-04-05T11:10:44.597Z
L Parker
<p>The meaning of 放 fàng from dictionary is “put, release”.</p>
<p>“Put or place” is an entirely opposite word / antonym of “release, free, liberate”</p>
<p>Then what does 放 mean in the following idiom:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>放在心上 fàngzàixīnshàng “to take to heart”?</p>
</blockquote>

<meaning><meaning-in-context><glyph-origin>
What is the meaning of 放 fàng in this idiom?
# What is the meaning of 放 fàng in this idiom?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-04-05)

The meaning of 放 fàng from dictionary is “put, release”.

“Put or place” is an entirely opposite word / antonym of “release, free, liberate”

Then what does 放 mean in the following idiom:

> 放在心上 fàngzàixīnshàng “to take to heart”?

**Tags:** meaning, meaning-in-context, glyph-origin

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-04-05. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

1. 'To put; to place' and 'to release' are not entirely antonymous. The original logic in the character `放` is that you *release* something from your hand such that it is *placed* on a receptacle.
2. It can be literal, as in `他放下錢便走了` ('He left after putting down some money'); or figurative, as in `別放在心上`.
3. To be precise, you are advised 'not to put *something* on your heart'. Let us hypothesise and say `她的死` (her death) is the object, as in 'don't take her death to heart'. We can say `別放她的死在心上`, but it sounds better if we use the `把`-construction, as in `別把她的死放在心上`. The object is thus usually fronted in the sentence, which may be a source of your confusion.


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