the rub

Idioms  

1. The difficulty or problem, as in We'd love to come but there's the rub—we can't get reservations. This expression may come from lawn bowling, where rub refers to an unevenness in the ground that impedes the ball. Its most famous use is in one of Hamlet's soliloquies (Hamlet, 3:1): “To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come ... Must give us pause.” [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

“And there’s the rub,” Callaway said.

From Literature

For Slot, who has regularly insisted that Liverpool have been unfortunate on many an occasion this season, there was an acceptable that his side had finally got the rub of the green.

From BBC

The rub is they ended up grasping desperately for the point Romero's thumping header gave them.

From BBC

The answer is yes, but there’s the rub.

From The Wall Street Journal

Delpique had started testing the brisket recipe three weeks earlier, telling his chefs to adjust the cook time, then the rub, which tasted too strong.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• barrier
• bug
• crunch
• difficulty
• disadvantage
• drawback
• glitch
• hitch
• holdup
• hurdle
• impediment
• inconvenience
• obstacle
• stumbling block