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the rub
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]
Example Sentences
Any inkling that Wigan simply had enjoyed the rub of the green in the first half was ended as Rowe weaved her way in for a try of her own having been laser-focused with the boot during the opening stages.
"Unfortunately we have just not had the rub of the green this season," Houghton added.
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma: "A clinical performance from our side. We got the rub of the green with the toss and took the brave decision to bat first not knowing how the wicket would play. It was a more than competitive score, close to our best performance."
“To be thus is nothing/But to be safely thus,” Macbeth observes, noting the rub of his illegitimate power grab.
That said, “Change the World” cooks, not least because of the rub between Babyface’s luscious groove and Clapton’s well-creased vocal.
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