"... sore eyed negroes ..."

[Wilson Gray]

= "coloreds with conjunctivitis"?

WTF *are* "sore eyes," anyway? Till a couple of minutes ago, when I
tried to google "sore eyes," I had been under the impression that
"sight for sore eyes" meant "sight that causes pain in one's eyes,"
used ironically or jokingly as a reverse compliment. Now, I've
discovered that it means, "sight so pleasant that even *sore* eyes
enjoy seeing it."

But that still leaves unanswered the question, WTF are "sore eyes"?
Is there a literal meaning? I experience pain inside *only* my right
eyeball as the "shadow" of, or prelude to, a cluster headache.
Conjunctivitis makes my eyes very itchy, but not sore.

-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org