“Hot-blooded” is an English idiom meaning passionate or short-tempered, first used by Shakespeare. It can describe impetuous characters, and also refers to certain horse breeds. It is often confused with “hot-blooded” and “cold-blooded,” which refer to an animal’s body temperature.
“Hot-blooded” is an English idiom meaning passionate, easily aroused, or short-tempered. Its first known use is in William Shakespeare’s play The Merry Wives of Windsor. The word should not be confused with the scientific terms cold-blooded or warm-blooded, although it can also be used to refer to a certain type of horse.
A common use of this adjective is to describe someone who is extremely passionate or excited, although it can also be used to describe a person who is impetuous and short-tempered. For example, in 1837, American author Washington Irving described a character as “a fiery, hot-blooded youth” in The Adventures of Captain Bonneville. This character, Kosato, killed the chief of his tribe and ran away with the chief’s wife. After taking refuge with the peaceful Nez Pierce tribe, he longs for the adventure of battle.
The type of character created by Irving is a prime example of someone who is “hot blooded.” Similar language is the phrase “he made his blood boil.” Heard mostly in the United States, this particular saying can be used for any situation that makes the subject angry or infuriated.
William Shakespeare has perhaps the first recorded use of the idiom in a play he wrote around the year 1600. In act five, scene five of The Merry Wives of Windsor, the main character, Falstaff, hopes to seduce two married women. In a soliloquy, he says, “Now, the hot-blooded gods help me!” Just a few years later, Shakespeare used the adjective again in Act II, Scene Four of the tragedy King Lear.
This phrase can also be used to refer to some smaller, lighter horse breeds. Arabian, Thoroughbred, Barb and Akhal-Teke horses are all considered warmblooded. While they may not be as strong as other races, they are known for their exceptional speed and stamina. These types of horses are used frequently as racehorses.
The term hot-blooded is often confused with the similar-sounding phrases hot-blooded and cold-blooded, but they are completely different. While the idiom refers to a certain temperament or type of horse, hot-blooded and cold-blooded refer to an animal’s body temperature in relation to its environment. Mammals, birds, and other warm-blooded animals regulate their body temperatures by creating heat in cold environments and releasing it in warm environments. Cold-blooded animals such as reptiles maintain essentially the same temperature as the air around them.
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