To nurse a grievance
Meaning
To secretly or persistently hold onto a feeling of resentment or injustice, keeping it alive and active in one's mind.
Origin
Imagine a time when the word 'nurse' wasn't just about caring for the sick or feeding an infant. From the 16th century onward, it also meant to tenderly foster, to keep something alive and growing, much like a gardener nurtures a delicate seedling. This sense of diligent preservation extended to abstract concepts, particularly negative ones. A 'grievance' itself, rooted in Old French, represented a burden, an injustice, a wrong. When these two concepts merged, perhaps in the quiet, simmering resentment of a wronged individual, 'to nurse a grievance' became the perfect description. It painted a vivid picture of someone not merely feeling upset, but actively tending to their indignation, feeding it, and ensuring it remained alive and robust in their heart, rather than letting it fade away.
Examples
- Despite many years passing, he continued to nurse a grievance against his former business partner for the perceived betrayal.
- She was known to nurse a grievance over even minor slights, often replaying the incident in her mind for weeks.