Aseri: Sweaty anxiety

Today's word is 焦り　あせり　aseri - anxiety.

The verb form (to be anxious, nervous, to mildly panic) is 焦る あせる　aseru.

You might also use it with 感じる　かんじる　kanjiru - to feel (verb) - 焦りを感じる　あせり　を　かんじる　aseri o kanjiru to mean 'to feel anxiety'.

The ase part of 焦り　or 焦る　sounds the same as 汗　あせ , which means sweat. In Japanese, words with different kanji and meanings that sound the same are often connected (which is why the number 4 (四）, which can be read shi, the same as 死　- death, is considered unlucky). So I don't think it's a coincidence that anxiety, which can make you sweat, sounds the same as the word for sweat.

If you know someone with a tendency to　be anxious and worry, you could give them a T-shirt printed with:

焦らないでマイペースでいこう！ あせらないでまいぺーすでいこう！　aseranaide maipe-su de ikou!

(Don't be anxious (don't sweat), go at your own pace! (マイペース　maipe-su is 'my pace' meaning 'your own pace').

(Incidentally, the word for a big, all-out panic is パニック　panikku - yep, another imported word.)