like a bear with a sore head
Meaning: In a very bad, irritable mood.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Dad's been like a bear with a sore head since his team lost the final.”
Category: Animals
Origin: A bear is fearsome enough; one in pain is worse. The comparison is found in print by the early 19th century, and possibly in the late 18th, though the earliest claimed uses are not well confirmed.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: Tener mala leche — literally: To have bad milk
- French: être de mauvais poil — literally: to be of bad hair
- French: N'être pas à prendre avec des pincettes — literally: Not to be picked up with tongs
More idioms — Animals
- prick up one's ears — To suddenly start listening closely.
- stir up a hornet's nest — To cause a lot of trouble or anger, often by provoking people.
- drunk as a skunk — Extremely drunk.
- kick against the pricks — To resist authority or fate in a way that only hurts oneself.
- hell for leather — As fast as possible.
- buy a pig in a poke — To buy something without examining it first.
More English idioms
- dead on one's feet — To be utterly exhausted.
- lay it on with a trowel — To flatter or exaggerate very heavily and without subtlety.
- fall flat on one's face — To fail completely and embarrassingly.
- burst someone's bubble — To destroy someone's illusion or happy belief.
- rise from the ashes — To be reborn or rebuilt after destruction or failure.
- one's blood runs cold — To be filled with sudden fear or horror.