A THORN IN SOMEBODY'S SIDE 

Good morning everyone. Welcome back to the Daily Vitamin. I hope you had a great weekend.

Some time ago, one of our Daily Vitamin readers wrote to us and in her e-mail she included the following sentence: Phrasal verbs are a thorn in my side.

Today we are going to explain this expression.

Today's expression is: to be a thorn in somebody's side.

It means: a person or thing that causes a lot of problems for somebody. A thorn is a short point that protrudes from the stem of a plant, like a rose bush, for example.

Example 1: He bought a house as an investment but it turned out to be a thorn in his side because it needed continuous maintenance.

Example 2: The new accountant is a thorn in my side. He arrives late; he's disorganized; and frankly, he's not very good at what he does! I always have to correct his work. Unfortunately, he's also the boss's son!

I don't think today's Daily Vitamin will become a thorn in your side, if you read the examples carefully! However, if you have any questions, or would like to write a practice sentence with this expression, please post your writing on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Bluesky), and we will answer your question or give you feedback about your writing as soon as we can. 

Enjoy the rest of your day!