therein lies the rub

therein lies the rub

English

Alternative forms

• there lies the rub
• there is the rub

Etymology

Misquotation from Shakespeare's Hamlet: "ay, there's the rub".

Phrase

therein lies the rub

1. That is where the problem is.

   I tried to back up my database to a USB flash drive, but it isn't big enough. Therein lies the rub.

Translations

Translations

Dutch: daar wringt de schoen, daar wringt het schoentje Finnish: siinä ongelma juuri piileekin French: c'est là que le bât blesse (fr) German: da liegt der Hase im Pfeffer (de), da liegt der Hund begraben (de) Greek: τα κουμπιά της Αλέξαινας (ta koumpiá tis Aléxainas) Italian: qui casca l'asino Norwegian: Bokmål: der ligger hunden begravet Polish: tu leży pies pogrzebany (pl), tu jest pies pogrzebany Russian: вот где соба́ка зары́та (ru) (vot gde sobáka zarýta) Spanish: la madre del cordero (es) Swedish: här ligger en hund begraven (sv)

See also

• thereby hangs a tale

Further reading

• “there s here s the rub” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “therein lies the rub”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
• “theres the rub”, in Collins English Dictionary.