# Heart Symbol **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410 "2002-12-28T22:55:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sir\_viks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@sir\_viks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sir_viks)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/1 "2002-12-28T22:55:33Z")
While playing a game of Cranium the other day, our competition was asked to draw out clues for the phrase “heartburn”. However, it is forbidden in the rules to draw any symbols or letters when trying to draw out the clue. For the “burn” part, the artist drew a campfire, but for the heart, the artist drew a very common “Valentine’s Day” heart. I claim that this is a symbolic representation of a heart, whereas our competition complained that the picture that was drawn WAS a heart and NOT a symbol (again, against the rules). So, who’s right? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/2 "2002-12-28T23:04:03Z")
I’d say you were absolutely right, **sir viks** , and the competition should take a point or whatever off. Maybe even buy th’ next round. The “Valentine-style” heart is a well-established symbol, of long standing. See [How come Valentine hearts don’t look anything like real hearts?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_146.html) ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/3 "2002-12-28T23:05:54Z")
I’m not familiar with the rules of Cranium, but most games of this type define “symbols” as those appearing on a standard keyboard or typewriter. Otherwise, you could argue that almost anything that is drawn is a symbol. I would allow a heart of this type. ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/4 "2002-12-28T23:12:30Z")
I’ve played Cranium and I think the ‘symbols’ part of the rules is too vaguely worded. In this case, I would probably allow the heart, but yeah, it’s probably breaking the rules. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/5 "2002-12-28T23:44:09Z")
Pictures are symbolic representations… ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/6 "2002-12-28T23:47:40Z")
I think it’s quite borderline. That heart shape is considered a heart. If I saw one, I woudlnt’ say “Oh, look, a symbol of a heart!”, I’d say “Look, a heart!” ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/7 "2002-12-29T00:18:46Z")
Just looking up the definitions for “symbol” in [Merriam-Webster](http://www.m-w.com/): [quote] 1 : an authoritative summary of faith or doctrine : CREED 2 : something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance; especially : a visible sign of something invisible \ **3 : an arbitrary or conventional sign used in writing or printing relating to a particular field to represent operations, quantities, elements, relations, or qualities** 4 : an object or act representing something in the unconscious mind that has been repressed \ \*\*5 : an act, sound, or object having cultural significance and the capacity to excite or objectify a response \*\* (bolding mine) If you were to actually attempt a drawing of an anatomically correct heart, that wouldn’t be a symbol, in the strictest sense, yet it _represents_ a heart, as **sleeping** referred to. Still, because a Valentine Heart has “cultural significance, the capacity to excite or objectify a response”, I’d go with it being a _bona fide_ symbol. And a darn easy way to get a clue across in Cranium, surely, if it were actually allowed. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/8 "2002-12-29T04:41:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > The “Valentine-style” heart is a well-established symbol, of long standing. See [How come Valentine hearts don’t look anything like real hearts?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_146.html) Methinks Desmond Morris is a bit too obssed with women’s buttocks. Somebody better call the funny farm. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/9 "2002-12-29T07:36:49Z")
According to Dave Barry, [it’s a prostate](http://www.s-t.com/daily/03-97/03-02-97/e02li348.htm). > [@](#): > > **Dr. Hanan’s discovery, which he backs up with six pages of diagrams from medical books, is that – prepare to be shocked – the human heart is NOT shaped like the valentine-style “heart” that is used in candy boxes, cartoons, tattoos and the signatures of women named “Brandi.” > By way of proof, Dr. Hanan sent a medical diagram of a human heart; it looks like a member of the mollusk family. Right next to this diagram, for comparison purposes, Dr. Hanan has drawn a standard valentine “heart” and written “I DON’T THINK SO!” He also notes, “I am a medical doctor, and therefore more than qualified to comment on such matters.” > And that is not all. Dr. Hanan has also reviewed the medical literature to see if any human organ IS shaped like a valentine. He found one: It is the PROSTATE GLAND. He enclosed several prostate diagrams, and there can be no medical doubt: It’s a dead ringer.** ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heart-symbol/145410/10 "2002-12-29T15:13:21Z")
I cannot verify any of this, but I have a friend who delivers a standard Valentine’s day message to his classes every year who claims that the “heart” is actually a vulva and I leave you to guess what he claims Cupid’s arrow is. While this sounds plausible, I cannot verify it. In any case, I think it is correct that the heart shape symbolizes rather than represents a heart.