What it means
Growing pains are the aches and awkward wonkiness that kick in when something's shooting up fast. It started with the actual pains kids were said to get while growing, then people borrowed it for businesses, bands, relationships, whatever. If something's getting bigger quicker than it can cope with, the scrappy mess in the middle is the growing pains.
Usage examples
"The startup tripled in size this year and the chaos in the inbox is just growing pains, they will sort the systems out."
"The new vegan bakery on Newland Avenue is having proper growing pains, the queue stretches past the launderette, the oven cannot keep up, and the owner has spent the morning apologising to regulars in a cheerful sort of despair."
"My kid is going through growing pains in year nine, the school uniform that fitted in September is already short at the wrist, and the door frame at home now has fresh pencil marks every Saturday morning before breakfast."
"Yeah the café's doing mad numbers now, but the hour-long wait and one poor bloke making all the coffees is just growing pains."
"We've got a bigger flat, a baby on the way, and absolutely no clue where anything lives anymore. Proper growing pains, innit."
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Where it comes from
It started out as a medical phrase in the late 19th century for the leg pains children were thought to get while growing. By the early 20th century, English had stretched it into everyday figurative use for the rough patch that comes when a person, group, or business grows faster than it can settle.
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