Originally Posted by MysticCat
LOL, but no, not quite. It's a little more nuanced than that, and not nearly as . . . vulgar. Depending on the circumstances and context, "Bless your/his/her heart" can mean:
-- a sincere expression of empathy, as in "Miss Luella's arthritis is acting up something awful. She can barely make it to the hairdresser, bless her heart."
-- an assurance that though someone may not have the sense he was born with, we love him anyway, as in "Mama, Brother has his pants on backwards again." "Oh, bless his heart."
-- a polite addendum to an otherwise unkind and rude observation, such as "She doesn't have the sense God gave a string bean, bless her heart," or "If I had a dog as ugly as him, I'd shave his butt and make him walk backwards, bless his heart," or "Bless your heart, you're too stupid to even know how stupid you are."
In all of these uses, there can be an almost endless variety of permutations, and with the last, a simple "Bless your/his/her heart" may often be used alone, as the the remainder of the sentiment will, of course, be understood.
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