🗓️ Idiom: A Pain in the Neck (n)
💬 Meaning
- Something or someone that causes annoyance or difficulty.
- A task, rule, or person that makes work harder or more frustrating.
🧠 Example Sentences
- All the extra forms we have to fill out are a real pain in the neck.
- Dealing with constant audits can be a pain in the neck for small business owners.
- That new compliance system is such a pain in the neck—no one knows how to use it properly.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the idea of physical pain in the neck being irritating and hard to ignore. It began appearing in English in the early 1900s as a more polite version of “a pain in the butt.” It’s now commonly used to describe people or things that are annoying or difficult.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
That monthly compliance report is such __________. It always takes hours to complete.
Answer
a pain in the neck
2. Choose the correct meaning of “a pain in the neck”:
A) Something very rewarding
B) Something annoying or difficult
C) A serious medical issue
Answer
B) Something annoying or difficult
3. Change the sentence using “a pain in the neck”:
“Following those outdated procedures is very annoying.”
Answer
Following those outdated procedures is a pain in the neck.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
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👉 Regulation and Compliance Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
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