Irascible, peevish, vexed, cantankerous. This simile dates from the late eighteenth century and has survived as a cliché on both sides of the Atlantic even though the adjective cross for “angry” is heard less frequently in America. Why a bear should be considered particularly prone to anger is not entirely clear, and indeed, over the years writers have amplified the description somewhat—for example, “cross as a bear with a sore head,” “mad as a beaten bear,” “grumbled like a bear with a sore ear.”

The unexpected appearance of someone or something one is very glad to see. The implications is that it will heal ailing eyes, obviously not to be taken literally. Jonathan Swift used it in Polite Conversation (1738): “The sight of you is good for sore eyes.”

To be very conspicuous. This simile is extremely apt, as anyone who has ever injured a thumb will testify. One tends to hold the injured finger stiffly, and, since it opposes the rest anyhow, it tends to stand out, thereby risking more bumps and bruises. Dating from the early twentieth century, it appears in print in Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece (1936): “That’s the one thing in the case that stands out like a sore thumb.”