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spot of bother. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Pronunciation
Noun
spot of bother (plural spots of bother)
- (idiomatic) A slight problem; a small predicament.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:difficult situation
I had a spot of bother with a sticky key on my keyboard.
1933 March, Marguerite Steen, “Strange Guest”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume LXXXV, London: George Newnes, Ltd., , →OCLC, page 271:As Gerald was aware, a spot of bother, a revival of the divorce fixation, had wafted Lydia temporarily on a visit to an aunt in Westmorland.
1969, Alex Bowlby, “Orlando”, in Recollections of Rifleman Bowlby: Italy, 1944, London: Leo Cooper, published 1989, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 183:'Hullo, Charles,' he drawled. 'I'm afraid we've run into a spot of bother.' / A spot of bother, I thought. Christ!
1979, C[harles] P[ercy] Snow, chapter 43, in A Coat of Varnish, London: Macmillan, →ISBN; republished Kelly Bray, Cornwall: House of Stratus, 2000, →ISBN, page 331:Loseby was telling them that he was in a spot of bother. That's what he called it. But somehow he always managed to get out of spots of bother. Or someone got him out.
2005, Simon Stephens, On the Shore of the Wide World, London, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, part 4, page 119:Charlie […] I heard about your spot of bother. / Alex Spot of bother? / Charlie Your dad told us. I was sorry to hear that. / Alex It was hardly a spot of bother, Grandad. My best mate's gonna get sent to prison for burning a house down.
2008, Nick Trout, “12:54 p.m.: Extreme Makeover”, in Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing, and Hope in My Life as an Animal Surgeon, New York, N.Y.: Broadway Books, →ISBN, pages 227–228:"Your topic, dear boy, your topic. 'Plastic Surgery in Small Animals.' I think you're in for a …"—she appeared to be searching for just the right turn of phrase and then added—"a spot of bother." / "A spot of bother," I repeated. / […] / What concerned me was her use of the phrase "a spot of bother." "A spot of bother" is one of many great British understatements. […] It is almost certain that during the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066 when King Harold took a direct hit from William the Conqueror's forces with an arrow to the eye, he turned to his knights and confessed that he was in a "spot of bother."
2016, Siobhán MacDonald, “Mannix: October”, in Twisted River (Penguin Mystery), New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 84:Being in a spot of bother with the Bolgers was rather like saying he'd had a brush with the Taliban or a minor skirmish with al-Qaida. The Bolgers didn't do spots of bother. They did mayhem. Revenge beatings, drive-by shootings, and in the last few months scalped a guy they felt had slighted them.
Translations
slight problem; small predicament