Maddeningly Optimistic

Why do we say Thank you from the "bottom of my heart." Why not the "top of my heart?" It sounds more positive and optimistic to me.


"She was madly today." That's a sentence my son wrote for his homework. (I think he was referring to me.) He couldn't find madly in his dictionary. It was listed within the definition for mad. I hope he will learn to love the dictionary as madly as I do.



Mad. Where did that word come from? Dictionary says from Middle English, from Old English. Which means they aren't exactly sure how it came about, since English is a combination of so many influences.


And why can I think of no other sentence containing madly except "He loves her madly." What other things do we do madly? I read madly. I write madly. I eat madly. No they don't sound right. He was madly running way from the cops! She was madly dashing about the room looking for her shoes. It does go with running or dashing. And I think a bird could flap madly around in a cage. Can thoughts rampage madly through your mind??? I can, and often do, rummage madly through my pocketbook, looking for keys or a hairband.


Have I gone mad? Or am I just mad about words and expressions? Or am I just maddening?