Literal translation
I have the heart-beating
Meaning
my heart is pounding
Explanation
This expression describes palpitations, a noticeable and sometimes worrying acceleration of the heart rate, caused by a strong emotion, with no physical exertion involved. The compound word bate-cor, literally heart-beating, names precisely this well-known physiological phenomenon: the heart which, under the effect of a fright, an intense joy, or a sudden anxiety, starts pounding harder and faster than usual, until the person can physically feel its presence in the chest. The expression is not strictly figurative, it directly names a real bodily sensation, but its common use goes beyond a mere medical observation to designate, by extension, the emotion itself that caused it, the event or the news that triggered the physical reaction. The register is neutral to familiar, used both to describe a passing medical disturbance and to report, in a vivid way, the intensity of a felt emotion, fear, surprise, joy, or sudden worry, without one necessarily excluding the other.