A thorn in your side

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Meaning

A person or problem that causes persistent trouble or irritation. Side and flesh versions coexist, but they have distinct biblical textual histories. Regional use: Biblical English; now widespread.

Origin

The modern expression grows from two related biblical images. Numbers 33:55 warns of hostile people as painful objects in the eyes and sides; Wycliffe uses nails and spears where the King James Version later uses pricks and thorns. In 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul describes a painful prick or thorn in the flesh. Medieval English therefore preserves the bodily-irritant metaphor, while the exact thorn-in-the-side wording is a later consolidation. Claims that it began as one unaltered English quotation oversimplify the record.

Research Sources

  1. Bible Gateway: Numbers 33:55 in English translations Bible Gateway
  2. Bible Gateway: 2 Corinthians 12:7 in English translations Bible Gateway
  3. Collins Dictionary: thorn in one's side HarperCollins
  4. Merriam-Webster: thorn Merriam-Webster

Variants

  • A thorn in one's side

Usage Examples

  • The unresolved boundary dispute remained a thorn in their side.
  • That tiny software defect has been a thorn in my side for months.
  • The independent councillor became a thorn in the administration's side.

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