The post title is my very question. Does have a sore head have any meaning other than have a headache?
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2 Answers
As Mari-Lou A noted, have a sore head may refer to having an injured head, or to experiencing the effects of too much alcohol (having a hangover). Eg: “Don't blink so loudly at me like that, I have a sore head”.
The term associated with anger is sorehead, not sore head. It means “A person who has a tendency to be angry or to feel offended” and might be used in phrases like sorehead loser or sentences like “He's a sorehead if you cross him”.
answered Nov 21, 2013 at 15:51
If someone banged me on the head with a blunt instrument, I would have a very sore head. I would also have a large red bump on my head to prove it.
If I had drunk a little too much wine for dinner, I might wake up the next day with a throbbing head.
A throbbing head describes one type of headache. I wouldn't normally say sore head myself, but if someone else used that expression and I saw no visible wounds or bruises on their head I would know what they mean.
answered Nov 21, 2013 at 6:47
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Thank you. Does it have any other meanings like "getting angry" or something?– dennylvCommented Nov 21, 2013 at 8:07
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I think in American English "to be sore at someone" can mean to be angry. I would need to check in a dictionary to be absolutely certain. thefreedictionary.com/sore Look at definition 6. Commented Nov 21, 2013 at 8:09
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1Mari-LouA: Great answer, I agree :) +1! I too would understand sore head, but agree that it isn't idiomatic to say. (And throbbing is a great related word!) To my ear, to be sore at someone sounds British, but it might be a regionalism (I'm from the US, but all AmE speakers are of course not the same :)). (cc @dennylv) Commented Nov 21, 2013 at 20:58
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@Mari-LouA To this Brit, "to be sore at someone" is definitely American. Commented Mar 21, 2021 at 9:50