E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Taking On.
Said of a woman in hysterics; to fret; to grieve passionately, as, “Come, don’t take on so!”
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“Lance, who … took upon himself the whole burden of Dame Debbitch’s … ‘taking on,’ as such fits of passio hysterica are usually termed.”—Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xxvi.
