The teacher asks a student, "How are you feeling about tomorrow?" The teacher has been preparing the student for tomorrow's exam for the whole year.
The student replies, "I'm scared of failing."
The student has a Yorkshire (North English) accent and it isn't, for some people, 100% clear that she says 'failing' but from the context it is much more likely that she says 'failing' and not 'failure'.
It seems to me that if the student had said "failure" it would have represented something more global, while "failing" refers just to tomorrow's test. Is this impression correct?
Side question: Is this an example of ellipsis? "I'm scared of failing [the test]"
Best Answer
Ordinarily, "I'm scared of failure" is like being afraid of heights while "I'm scared of failing" is more like being afraid of falling off the ladder while changing the light bulb. The difference is not absolute.