nerves on the surface

[ian2]

Dear friends,

The following is the paragraph and the question follows:

His temper was as quick as his smile, in everything he did his nerves seemed on the surface. In fact, people forgot all about the senator and began to complain that sympathy and emotion flowed too easily.

“Nerves on the surface” seems to mean one is easily to be affected. But I just want to know how cognitively the metaphor “on the surface” is constructed. How come “nerves are on the surface means to be affected? In other words, what is the metaphoric picture of the phrase? The reason I asked this is because I first thought it could mean all the emotions are shown on the surface. Apparently the picture I have is different from the right picture of the phrase.

[Tdol]

If the nerves were deeper inside him, he would be less affected. We also have idioms like 'wear your heart on your sleeve' and 'thin-skinned' which also associate quick emotional responses with the outside of our body.

[ian2]

Originally Posted by Tdol

If the nerves were deeper inside him, he would be less affected. We also have idioms like 'wear your heart on your sleeve' and 'thin-skinned' which also associate quick emotional responses with the outside of our body.

Rdol,

Thanks a million.

I originally thought nerves could mean

control of your emotions (Example: "This kind of tension is not good for my nerves)

So I thought when his nerves seemed on the surface, it meant that he was easy to display emotions, which is close to "easy to be affected", but the focus is different. To give you a larger context, do you think the focus of the phrase is on easily being affected, or emotions easy to be affected:

At a first glance, people might think he looked a senator, it did not take them long to discover how mercurial he was. His temper was as quick as his smile, in everything he did his nerves seemed on the surface. In fact, people forgot all about the senator and began to complain that sympathy and emotion flowed too easily. Many of them disliked his love of display. Yet they were affected by the depth of his feeling. Nearly everyone recognized that, though it took some insight to perceive that he was not only a man of deep feeling, but also one of passionate pride.

Ian

[Tdol]

It's his emotions- he's mercurial, and gets angry or shows sympathy very easily. Whether it's anger or sympathy, it flows quickly from him, though I get the feeling that pride and anger are the driving forces.

[ian2]

Thanks.

Ian