the.com/testiness
Patience's low-battery warning, right before it dies completely.
means A state of irritable impatience, where small annoyances provoke sharp or snappish reactions.
from Rooted in 'testy,' which traces back to Anglo-French 'testif' meaning headstrong or heady, itself from Old French 'teste' (head) — the ancestor of modern French 'tête' and, through a long and tangled path, related to Latin 'testa' (shell or pot). The sense drifted from 'heady, impulsive' to specifically 'easily irritated,' as if the heat always rose straight to one's skull.
- root
- from testy, meaning headstrong, originally about head injuries
- disguise
- often mistaken for honesty by the person being testy
- trigger
- usually hunger, fatigue, or someone chewing loudly
- duration
- shorter than anger, longer than a sigh