To be with CHILD to hear (see) something

Insights

Intense Anticipation

The proverb describes a state of intense, almost unbearable anticipation or longing. The feeling of waiting for news or to witness an event is compared to the final stages of pregnancy, implying a sense of being full to bursting with curiosity and impatience.

Burden of Knowing

Just as pregnancy is a physical state that culminates in birth, the metaphor suggests that this profound curiosity is a psychological burden that can only be relieved by the 'delivery' of the awaited information or event.

Consuming Desire for Revelation

The phrase conveys a powerful, almost painful desire for something to be revealed. It suggests that the anticipation is not passive but an active, consuming state that dominates one's thoughts and feelings until it is resolved.

Embodied Metaphor in Language

The proverb uses the universal and deeply physical experience of pregnancy to describe an intense psychological state. This reflects an Early Modern tendency for visceral, embodied metaphors, grounding abstract emotions like curiosity and longing in a tangible, universally understood physical condition. The 1549 biblical paraphrase elevates this from simple curiosity to profound, spiritual anticipation.

Psychological Weight of Anticipation

This idiom powerfully illustrates the somatic nature of strong emotions. It captures the idea that intense curiosity is not merely a mental state but can feel like a physical pressure or burden, demanding the 'birth' or release of information. Pepys' 1660 usage shows its application to a general, almost restless, desire for novelty.

Linguistic Evolution

While common in the 16th and 17th centuries, this vivid expression has largely fallen out of use. Its obsolescence may reflect a broader shift in language away from such raw, bodily metaphors toward more abstract or less visceral expressions like 'dying to know'.

Rhetorical Devices

Metaphor

The entire proverb is a powerful metaphor, comparing the abstract feeling of intense curiosity to the physical state of pregnancy.

Hyperbole

The comparison exaggerates the feeling of curiosity to the level of a nine-month gestation, emphasizing its overwhelming and burdensome nature.

Visceral Imagery

The phrase creates a strong physical image of swelling, waiting, and imminent release to describe an internal, psychological state, making the feeling more tangible and relatable.