a pain in the neck

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pain in the neck

An especially irritating, aggravating, or obnoxious person, thing, or situation. You know, Jack, you may be my friend, but you can be a real pain in the neck sometimes! This calculus homework is a pain in the neck. It's not that I don't understand it, it's just so tedious!

See also: neck, pain

a pain in the neck

INFORMAL

COMMON If someone or something is a pain in the neck, they are very annoying. He was a pain in the neck. I was glad when he left my department. `Sorry,' he said. `They've forgotten to insure the plane. It's a pain in the neck, but what can I do?'

See also: neck, pain

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

a pain in the neck

an annoying or tedious person or thing. informal

There are a number of vulgar slang alternatives to neck in this idiom, such as a pain in the arse or, in the USA, ass .

See also: neck, pain

a pain in the ˈneck

(British English also a pain in the ˈarsetaboo/ˈbum/ˈbackside) (American English also a pain in the ˈasstaboo/ˈbutt) (informal) a person or thing that you find annoying: Her new boyfriend is a real pain in the neck — he never stops talking.

See also: neck, pain

pain in the neck, a

A nuisance. This term replaced the earlier pain in the stomach about the turn of the twentieth century; both are euphemisms for a pain in the posterior—pain in the butt, pain in the ass. Rolling Stone (April 7, 1977) had it: “It was an increasing pain in the ass to do the same material each night.”