pain in the neck en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
First attested in the 1920s.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic, slang) Someone or something which is annoying, irritating or inconvenient.
OK, call me a hypersensitive liberal, if you want. It wouldn’t be the first time. I can be a pain in the neck about racial, ethnic and religious bias sometimes, but I think it’s better to be hypersensitive than insensitive.
2022 November 19, Clarence Page, “Sometimes offensive comedy is just lazy laughs”, in Chicago Tribune:Got to know McTodd, found he wasn’t coming to the castle, and came down instead of him, same as me. Only he got there first, damn him! Wouldn’t that give you a pain in the neck!”
1923, P. G. Wodehouse, Leave It to Psmith, London, page 188:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| pains in the neck | Number=Plur | lexicographic |