The word 担忧 (dānyōu, "to worry") is formed by combining two characters that each contribute a vivid, complementary image to create the overall meaning. The first character, 担, originally depicts a hand carrying a burden on a shoulder pole, conveying the idea of "bearing" or "carrying". The second character, 忧, represents a person with a bent, troubled heart or mind, embodying the emotion of "sorrow" or "anxiety". Thus, the compound visually and conceptually fuses these ideas to express the state of "carrying anxiety" or "shouldering worry", as if it were a physical weight borne by the heart.