stick like a bur

[ostap77]

Do you guys use the saying " to stick like a bur" to mean that someone is a constant source of annoyance? I've been googling it and couldn't find what it exactly means.

[SoothingDave]

I'm used to seeing it with two "r"s, but it seems "bur" is OK.

This is not a common phrase. I don't think of burrs as sticky, since I think of "burr" as a bump on an otherwise smooth surface (like a metal part that has been machined).

[Barb_D]

I think it depends if you've spend much time trying to get burrs out of your dog's coat or not. I also have Southern relatives, where more colorful expressions might be the norm. So I find this to be a very normal expression. In fact, just yesterday I wrote to someone who owed me some information (we have a friendly relationship so I could tease him) that I was going to be the burr under his saddle blanket until he coughed it up. (I got the information in a couple hours.)

[BobK]

FYI - I went to a lecture at Reading University on bio-mimetics, and the learned speaker (whose name escapes me) said the burr was the inspiration for the development of Velcro.

b

[BobK]

Back on topic, COCA has this for 'stick like <noun>:

1 STICK LIKE GLUE 4
2 STICK LIKE VELCRO 3
3 STICK LIKE TAR 1
4 STICK LIKE MAYBELLINE 1
5 STICK LIKE FLYPAPER 1
6 STICK LIKE FIGURE 1
7 STICK LIKE ELMER 1
8 STICK LIKE ELIZABETH 1
9 STICK LIKE BURRS 1

- just those nine; and 'glue' and 'Velcro' represent half of the 14 hits.

b