pain in the neck, a
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!
pain in the neck
Fig. a bother; an annoyance. This assignment is a pain in the neck. Your little brother is a pain in the neck.
pain in the neck
Also, pain in the ass or butt . A source of annoyance, a nuisance, as in Joan is a real pain in the neck, with her constant complaining, or Jack told his brother to stop being a pain in the ass. The first of these colloquial expressions dates from about 1900 and originated as a euphemism for the two less polite variants.
a pain in the neck
INFORMALCOMMON 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?'
a pain in the neck
an annoying or tedious person or thing. informalThere are a number of vulgar slang alternatives to neck in this idiom, such as a pain in the arse or, in the USA, ass .
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.pain in the neck
n. a difficult or annoying thing or person. (see also pain in the ass.) My boss is a pain in the neck.
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.”
See also: pain