the hard way

Definition

•

a way of doing something which is unnecessarily difficult

She always does things the hard way.

•

If you learn something the hard way, you learn from unpleasant experiences rather than by being taught

If she won't listen, she'll have to learn/find out the hard way.

(Definition of the hard way from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

worried or nervous about something that is going to happen

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