Meaning of spot of bother | Babel Free

Definitions

A slight problem; a small predicament.

idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“I had a spot of bother with a sticky key on my keyboard.”

“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.”

“'Hullo, Charles,' he drawled. 'I'm afraid we've run⟳ into a spot of bother.' / A spot of bother, I thought. Christ!”

“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.”

“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.”

“"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."”

“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.”

CEFR level