"I would like to thank Geoffrey Vitale for a delightful post - truly a read for sore eyes!" Why "a read for sore eyes"?
It comes from a phrase "a sight for sore eyes", which we say about something that is good, that we're happy to see. For example, if you haven't seen a loved one for ages, and you're happy to see them and they look well, you might say " you're a sight for sore eyes". A read for sore eyes means that it is a good read.
Around here, as far as I know, a "sight for sore eyes" is something NOT good. Look at that pile of dirty dishes, it's a sight for sore eyes. As in, it looks aweful. I would take "a read for sore eyes" to mean something NOT pleasant to read. Maybe you'll have to ask the author... Jon
The Minnesotan usage has not got into the FreeDictionary yet. http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/sight+for+sore+eyes
I wonder where "around here" is? This post surprises me. I have always heard "a sight for sore eyes" to mean something GOOD and PLEASANT.
I found this bit. Meaning A welcome visitor - someone you are glad to see. Origin This phrase was first recorded by Jonathan Swift, in A complete collection of genteel and ingenious conversation, 1738: "The Sight of you is good for sore Eyes."
Sorry to disagree Yon but this is absolutely contrary to any use of the phrase that I have come across here in the UK.
I live in the West Midlands and I always thought it had the same meaning as Yon until someone from Devon told me I was a sight for sore eyes. I thought they were being rude and telling me I looked a mess!!!
It might be noted that Yon made that extraordinary observation three years ago. For the record, around here a sight for sore eyes is a good thing: that is, something so pleasant that just seeing it would make eyes that are sore feel better. I really don't know how anyone could understand the meaning of these words in any other way: after all, this is not a sight to make eyes sore, but a sight to bring before eyes that are already sore, in order to make them not worse but better.
Hello This proves: Language is the source of misunderstandings But wouldn't this "negative" meaning rather be expressed by something like "a sight to make your eyes sore"?
Not necessarily, for example there is an advert for anti-aging skin cream with the caption 'for younger looking skin' meaning it gives the consumer younger looking skin not that the skin cream is meant to be applied to younger looking skin. One of those fascinating nuances of language
May I return to the original topic, and say I find the expression "a read for sore eyes" very strange. It borrows from "a sight," but since reading a book is a lengthy process, and nothing like the instantaneous recognition of a well-met friend-- how do you escape the absurdity of the idea that extended reading relieves sore eyes? No matter how well-written a book is, if your eyes are fatigued when you sit down to read it-- well aren't they going to get more so as you continue to read? Seems to me an unintentional contradiction is set up which makes the expression comical, in a painful sort of way.
They are both metaphorical. A sight for sore eyes doesn't actually do anything to your eyes and you may look at a "site for sore eyes" for a long time. It is an effect on the viewer of making life seem better in some way. Further, there's no strong limitation to the immediacy of it, although it is often used in the sense of "relief from some stressful situation". Therefore reading a book can do the same - for possibly even longer actual benefit to the psyche.
Oh Mr foxfirebrand is there no poetry in your soul? It is difficult to ascertain without more context but perhaps the writer was knowingly perpetrating a bad pun. PS. Thanks GWB.I had not realised that we were commenting on an old thread, tilting at windmills that are no longer there.
We're missing some background information here. Still, I interpreted the "delightful post" part of the sentence as referring to a blog post, article or something of the kind (which wouldn't be long at all). Which doesn't mean I like the expression, or don't find it clunky. EDIT: Oh. I'm late.
I hear an ox lumbering around not far from my burrow. Gee I hope he doesn't step in one of my exit-strategy holes and wrench a shank in it.
If this is an insult then I take it on the chin without cavil. I support freedom of expression and hold no grudges. Peace brother.
It wasn't an insult, more of a conversation stopper owing to the zealotry of mods for staying on topic-- their call, no complaints here about it. That's what the PM system is for, which you already know as you've continued the dialogue there. As I said, I like freedom of expression too, but if I spend too much of my ration here, I don't get to unlimber it somewhere else where I might really need to. Cheers!
