Idioms & Phrases: Fret and fume

Fret and fume is a common English idiom that describes a state of intense anxiety combined with visible anger or irritation.  It paints a picture of someone continuously worrying about a situation while visibly simmering with rage, often complaining or agonizing over it without taking steps to fix it. 

The phrase traces its roots back to Old English and combines two distinct emotional reactions:

Fret: Originating from Old English freotan meaning devour or consume.  It refers to the gnawing or worrying, the mental anguish of a situation.  It is the internal anxiety or distress. 

Fume: Derived from the Latin fumus meaning smoke, it refers to outward display of anger, seething or blowing of steam.  It is the visible hot-headedness of the person. 

People often fret and fume over things outside of their control, such as frustrating traffic, a lingering IT problem or a tense meeting at work. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thousand & One Nights: 72nd Night contd.The Story of Two Viziers

The province of Egypt. Once, here lived a king. He was kind, generous, trusted, courageous and just. He associated himself with learned. He was sympathetic to poor. He had a wise and experienced vizier. The vizier had two sons. And they were two moons. They were elegant, beautiful and graceful. The elder was Shams al Din Muhammad, and the younger was Nur al Din Ali. The younger was more beautiful than the elder. When the vizier died the King summoned the sons of vizier and said, "You shall take your father's place and be joint viziers of Egypt." They kissed the ground before him and withdrew. For a full month they performed the ceremonial mourning of their father. After the mourning, they assumed their duties; each of them accompanied the king on alternate weeks. When they did not accompanied the king they were in charge of other duties. The two lived in the same house and their word was one. Both brothers were in their house. It was a night. The elder brother was to set ...
Read more

Thousand & One Nights: 70th Night

Harun al Rashid on his roaming the country side, saw a fisherman who did not have any catch for the day and worried about his family's bread. The Caliph had brought him to the banks of Tigris and asked him to throw the net. When they pulled the net the catch was a locked heavy chest. The Caliph paid him one hundred dinars. The chest was taken to the palace. Now the story to continue: When the chest was opened there was a girl. She had been cut into nineteen pieces. The Caliph looked at her, felt very sad, and turned to Ja'far and said angrily, "You, dog of a vizier, people are being killed and thrown into river in my city while I take the responsibility of Doomsday. If you do not find her killer, I will hang you and forty of your kin with you." "O Commander of the Faithful, give me three days."Ja'far said. Ja'far went into the city, vexed, worried and sad. He had no idea what to do. He thought to himself, "Where shall I find the murderer?" ...
Read more

Thousand & One Nights: 72nd Night

When the story was completed by the young man the king was astonished. "By God, I will hang none," said the king. But he had already decided to find out the slave who played trick on the young man. He said to Ja'far, "Go to the city and bring the slave, or I will strike your neck." Ja'far left in tears in search of the slave. How could he identify the slave who snatched the apple from the young man's son. He thought, "There is no escape from death this time, for the jar cannot be saved everytime. All powerful and omnipotent God who saved me always save me again. By God, I will stay home for three days until God's will is accomplished. He stayed home for two days, and for the third day, by noon, giving himself up for lost, Ja'far summoned the judges and witnesses, and made his will. Then he called his children to him, bade them farewell, and wept. Soon a messenger from the Caliph arrived. He informed that the Caliph was in great rage and swor...
Read more