To shake or quiver with anticipation, enthusiasm, or eager anticipation of something positive.
This phrase demonstrates how the same physical response - trembling - can indicate vastly different emotions. While trembling has long been associated with fear, the pairing with 'excitement' shows how language evolved to distinguish between negative fear-trembling and positive anticipation-trembling, both involving similar physiological responses but different emotional contexts.
It's fascinating that our bodies use the same mechanism - trembling - for both terror and tremendous joy, showing how thin the line is between intense emotions. This phrase perfectly captures that electric feeling of anticipation where excitement becomes so powerful it manifests physically, proving that overwhelming happiness can be just as physically affecting as fear.
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