Sticking Out Like a Sore Thumb
South Korea is one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in the world. In 1985 it had the most ethnic fractionalization, but saw a 10x increase by 2013. This means that the people living in Korea are more similar than in other countries. But, Korea is becoming more multicultural all the time. The number of foreign residents in Korea has jumped from 0.33% of the population in 2000 to 3.44 in 2019. I am one of those people.
I would like to tell you about my experience with ethnic homogeneity in Korea. When I taught at a high school, there were tests. The teachers would make sure the students didn’t cheat by watching them take the test. It was a boring task, but also a very easy one. All of the student had the same black hair and uniform. So, when a student lifted their head or turned to the side, it was so easy to notice.
However, I am a bald white guy. I stick out like a sore thumb. It doesn’t matter where I go, people notice that I am not Korean. Nowadays, especially in cities, no one really cares. It is usually old men that stare a little too hard that reminds me I am not Korean. I like to stare back until they realize what they are doing and look away. I don’t notice this stuff too much on bicycle but I went for a hike last weekend and had a lot of stares. I started wondering if there was something on my face. Maybe it was shocking to them because I went up a mountain that is not very popular.
Discussion
Sticking out like a sore thumb means that something (or someone) is very noticeable. It is difficult to hide the uniqueness. It doesn’t sound too mean, but it is not a compliment. Think about hitting your thumb with a hammer. It will become red and swollen, and maybe worse. It is easy to notice.
Example (person): My friend is 190cm tall. He sticks out like a sore thumb in Korea.
Example (thing): Can you remove that ugly painting. It is sticking out like a sore thumb in this museum.
Today’s idiom has been around for a while. The first part, sticking out, has been around in the 16th century and means to be different from the surroundings. Sticking out like a sore thumb started being used in the mid-1800s. The phrase may have developed from an older phrase, to be on hand like a sore thumb. That phrase meant to be available at any time for any reason, almost like a slave. However, this phrase is no longer used.
See Also: Unicorn, Great minds think alike, Adding insult to injury, The short end of the stick
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Reference:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120425022541/http://www.dartmouth.edu/~socy/pdfs/measuring_cultural_diversity.pdf
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/4JQRCL
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/05/16/a-revealing-map-of-the-worlds-most-and-least-ethnically-diverse-countries/
https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/12/15/how-multiculturalism-has-fared-in-south-korea-amid-pandemic-pub-83410
https://grammarist.com/idiom/stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb/
https://wordhistories.net/2019/03/09/sore-thumb/