Common adjectives worry often describes a person who is uncomfortable (such as he tends to get nervous around birds), fearful (she is nervous about venturing into the water) or excitable (anxiety hopes hope to audition).
Worry came to English through Middle English from Anglo-French and Latin. Latin adjective nerve means “sinewy, sinewy, supple, strong.”
‘Tense’ now usually means “to show or show courage calmly” or “marked by boldness or conceit.”
Latin letters nerve refers to muscle or tendon, and the English word nervebefore mentioning bundles of fibers, axons, and dendrites that send and receive messages to the brain, initially appearing in the context of suggesting the idea of muscle:
My fate cries out
And make every little piece in this body
As strong as the lion Nemean nerve. —William Shakespeare, hamlet
Of course, nerves are used to sense everything — pain, pleasure, danger, etc. — and to help us respond to all kinds of stimuli, but from nerve often found in contexts involving fear and courage. English offers a wide range of neural-based idioms that don’t seem to line up logically. ARRIVE have nerves means worry, but in other uses, nerve means courage. ARRIVE have a lot of nerves means daring or brazen. ARRIVE have (or have) the courage to do something meant to do it despite the expected deprecation.
“He walked in to walk me down the actual aisle and then my dad let me go at the last minute,” said Meghan [McCain] explain. “I had nerve right before I was about to step out, but Jimmy made me laugh all the time.” — Charlotte Triggs, EverybodyAugust 26, 2018
We stood there hugging and rocking back and forth, and after a while the preacher stopped shaking and I was still holding on to him; and finally i got nerve to ask the question I want to ask. “Do you think she will come back?” I whispered. — Kate DiCamillo, For Winn-Dixie2000
“You have a lot nerve,” said my mother at last, “to look forward to going around chivalrously, to ask for any favors with the transcripts you bring home. When you start to score like your brother Billy I would think of giving you any perks, but now you’ll be home at ten if you know what’s good for you. …” — Dennis Smith, A song for Mary1999
This is the later usage of nerve notice for adjectives stressover time has covered the range of neurologically related meanings. nerve used to mean “sinewy” or “strong”; it can also mean “anxious,” but usually means “showing or displaying calm courage” or “marked by brazenness or conceit.”
A fearless and skilled door-breaker, Karger isn’t afraid to perform nerve-wracking stunts, such as posing as a restaurant lobbyist. In 2006, he walked into Vanity Fair’s exclusive Oscars party with a fake Oscar statuette and four hot girls he met on the street, claiming to be part of the King Kong special effects team. — Stephanie Mencimer, Mother JonesMarch + April 2010
Black Midi tends to name songs according to sound notation rather than related to the theme…. So, to some extent, it’s no surprise that they’re back with a single called “Talking Heads,” because they stress and a varied rhythmic approach that often recalls the iconic rock art outfit. —Ryan Leas, stereoscopic gumApril 30, 2019
The use of stress meaning “anxiety” persists, although apparently more frequently in British publications:
He looks very stress Candidates. Standing in the soundproof glass booth on the set of “Twenty-One,” NBC’s flagship quiz show during the winter of 1956-57, he bit his lip, frowned, puffed his cheeks. “Oh my God!” he would sigh, then pull out a large white handkerchief and wipe it all over his face, being careful not to smear it, as he had been instructed. — The Economist, April 27, 2019
So the next time you see it, we hope you don’t fret.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
