Chunk: borrow trouble
Meaning & Usage
To borrow trouble means to worry needlessly about hypothetical future complications or misfortunes that may never occur; anticipating hardship prematurely and allowing anxiety over uncertain outcomes to disrupt present clarity.
🧲 Common Collocates
- Frequent Patterns: don't borrow trouble, borrow trouble from tomorrow, no reason to borrow trouble, why borrow trouble?
- Contextual Nuance: Often delivered as pragmatic, stoic advice against catastrophizing or unproductive rumination.
💬 Contextual Examples
- Focus on completing today's tasks—don't borrow trouble from tomorrow.
- There is no point obsessing over potential supply chain bottlenecks before the supplier even responds; stop borrowing trouble.
- Her mentor always advised against borrowing trouble, noting that most anticipated crises dissolve before they arrive.
🎴 Interactive Web Practice
Practice 1: There is no reason to worry about problems that haven't materialized; don't borrow ______.
Answer:
trouble Practice 2: We should focus on present deliverables rather than ______ trouble from potential future reorganizations.
Answer:
borrowing Practice 3: Try to remain calm and handle issues as they come—never borrow trouble ______ tomorrow.
Answer:
from 🔗 Knowledge Base Connections
- 🔑 Parent Node: Borrow
- ⚖️ Related Discrimination: borrow-vs-lend