What it means
عصب (asab) means “nerve,” one of the fibers that carry signals between the brain and the rest of the body. The word is borrowed from Arabic (root ع-ص-ب) and is fully at home in everyday Persian. In clinical talk it is the literal nerve, but its plural اعصاب (a’sâb) is what people reach for when they mean someone’s mood or composure, close in feeling to the English “nerves.”
How to use it
- عصب دستم گیر کرده. (asab-e dastam gir karde.) “A nerve in my hand is pinched.”
- دکتر گفت یه عصب ملتهب شده. (doktor goft ye asab moltaheb shode.) “The doctor said a nerve is inflamed.”
- اعصابم خرد شد. (a’sâbam khord shod.) “My nerves are shot.”
- رو اعصابم راه نرو. (ru a’sâbam râh naro.) “Don’t get on my nerves.”
Cultural note
In spoken Persian the plural اعصاب is far more common in daily life than the singular عصب. People say اعصابم خرده (a’sâbam khorde) to mean they are stressed or at the end of their patience, and اعصاب ندارم (a’sâb nadâram) to say they have no patience left right now. The singular عصب stays mostly in medical settings, where a doctor of the nervous system is a متخصص اعصاب (motakhasses-e a’sâb), a neurologist.