the.com/worry
borrowing tomorrow's troubles at today's interest rate, with nothing to show for it
means To feel anxious or troubled about actual or potential problems, often turning the same fears over and over in your mind.
from From Old English 'wyrgan,' meaning to strangle or throttle — the word literally meant to choke. For centuries it kept that physical bite: a dog 'worries' a rat by seizing and shaking it by the throat, and people could 'worry' each other in a fight. Only later did the sense soften and turn inward, from gripping by the neck to being gripped by anxiety — as if your own cares had you by the throat. It's a cousin of German 'würgen,' to strangle.
- old meaning
- once meant to strangle, from wolves throttling sheep
- useless math
- most worries never happen, yet still charge rent
- body cost
- chronic worry shrinks memory and raises heart risk
- evolutionary job
- a smoke alarm that mistakes toast for fire
- worry beads
- cultures invented fidget tools to outsource the dread
generalized anxiety disorder — affects 6.8 million american adults yearly, diagnosed by excessive worry over 6+ months
stock market volatility 2020 — s&p 500 dropped 34% in 23 days in march, triggering widespread investor anxiety
parents of missing children — 800,000 children reported missing annually in us, causing intense parental distress