the.com/growing pains
The ache of becoming someone you aren't yet, billed as a medical condition.
means The discomfort — physical or organizational — that comes with rapid development, originally the aches once attributed to children's bones and muscles growing.
from Coined in the 19th century as a literal medical term for the leg and joint pains children sometimes feel during growth spurts — doctors debated (and still debate) whether growth itself was really the cause. By the early-to-mid 20th century the phrase had wandered into figurative use, describing the stumbles and strains of any young person, relationship, or company still getting its shape.
- actual diagnosis
- no known physical cause has ever been confirmed
- real culprit
- often just ordinary leg fatigue from active kids
- the metaphor
- outgrew the literal meaning, now means any awkward progress
- timing
- strikes at night, conveniently when growth cannot be measured