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"'''Worry wart'''," [[meaning]] "a person who worries or frets incessantly," is one of those phrases that only seem [[stranger]] the longer you look at them. It's possible to worry about warts, of course, although fortunately I don't [[think]] there's any [[evidence]] that worry itself causes warts. I suppose a "worry wart" could be a wart that one "worries" (in the sense of "fiddle with") in moments of [[stress]], but that sounds like a bad idea.

"'''Worry wart'''," [[meaning]] "a person who worries or frets incessantly," is one of those phrases that only seem [[stranger]] the longer you look at them. It's possible to worry about warts, of course, although fortunately I don't [[think]] there's any [[evidence]] that worry itself causes warts. I suppose a "worry wart" could be a wart that one "worries" (in the sense of "fiddle with") in moments of [[stress]], but that sounds like a bad idea.

"[[Worry]]" itself is an interesting word, one that has traveled far from its [[origins]]. When "worry" first appeared in [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] (as "wrygan"), it meant, not "to fret," but "to strangle" (putting a whole new [[light]] on "put your worries behind you"). That grisly meaning of "worry" softened a bit over the subsequent centuries, first to "bite and shake" (as dogs "worry" their rubber toys today), then "to harass or vex," until finally arriving at its [[modern]] [[meaning]] of "to make (or to be) persistently anxious" around 1822.

"[[Worry]]" itself is an interesting word, one that has traveled far from its [[origins]]. When "worry" first appeared in [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] (as "wrygan"), it meant, not "to fret," but "to strangle" (putting a whole new [[light]] on "put your worries behind you"). That grisly meaning of "worry" softened a bit over the subsequent centuries, first to "bite and shake" (as dogs "worry" their rubber toys today), then "to harass or vex," until finally arriving at its [[modern]] [[meaning]] of "to make (or to be) persistently anxious" around 1822.

"Wart," on the other hand, has meant "a small excrescence on the skin" since it appeared in [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] from a Germanic [[root]]. Several centuries of [[development]] gave "wart" a variety of figurative [[meanings]], including that of "a [[defect]] or unattractive feature" (as in the phrase "warts and all") and, perhaps [[inevitably]], "an annoying, obnoxious or insignificant person" in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 19th century].

"Wart," on the other hand, has meant "a small excrescence on the skin" since it appeared in [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._600-1100.09THE_OLD_ENGLISH.2C_OR_ANGLO-SAXON_PERIOD Old English] from a Germanic [[root]]. Several centuries of [[development]] gave "wart" a variety of figurative [[meanings]], including that of "a [[defect]] or unattractive feature" (as in the phrase "warts and all") and, perhaps [[inevitably]], "an annoying, obnoxious or insignificant person" in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century 19th century].

Thus the [[stage]] is set for decoding "worry wart" as "a person who annoys others by worrying loudly and constantly over nearly [[everything]]." The earliest use of the phrase in print found so far is from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956 1956], although an earlier form, "worryguts," had been popular in Britain since the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930's 1930s]. But "worry wart" became a household [[standard]] when it was used as the name of a recurrent character in "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_Our_Way Out Our Way]," a popular newspaper comic strip drawn by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._Williams_(cartoonist) James R. Williams] from 1922 to 1957. Oddly enough, Williams' "Worry Wart" was a young boy who caused [[worry]] in others, rather than being [[plague]]d by worry himself.[http://www.word-detective.com/0807B.html]

Thus the [[stage]] is set for decoding "worry wart" as "a person who annoys others by worrying loudly and constantly over nearly [[everything]]." The earliest use of the phrase in print found so far is from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956 1956], although an earlier form, "worryguts," had been popular in Britain since the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930's 1930s]. But "worry wart" became a household [[standard]] when it was used as the name of a recurrent character in "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_Our_Way Out Our Way]," a popular newspaper comic strip drawn by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._Williams_(cartoonist) James R. Williams] from 1922 to 1957. Oddly enough, Williams' "Worry Wart" was a young boy who caused [[worry]] in others, rather than being [[plague]]d by worry himself.[http://www.word-detective.com/0807B.html]