"pain in the ass"

Posted by Smokey Stover June 15, 2005In reply to "Pain in the ass" posted by R. Berg on June 15, 2005

What is the exact meaning of the phrase "pain in the ass"

It is a phrase used to describe someone or something that is annoying, irritating, boring or in some other way unpleasant.

DFG

In polite company you can say "pain in the neck" which means the same thing.

Resolved: let's all live in polite company.

Seconded.

It started out as just a pain, as in "He gives me a pain." Pain in the neck was next (OED cites from 1911), then pain in the rear end and pain in the a** . In my boyhood, pain in the neck was standard. Pain in the a** I heard only after World War II, although doubtless it was around earlier. SS