spot of bother
2
4.8
- noun
- UK
:
pequeño problema
- She ran into a spot of bother when her car broke down on the highway.
Examples
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He is, however, in a spot of bother.
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Your mum's in a spot of bother.
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We had a spot of bother.
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Little spot of bother in there, could you give me a hand?
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Give it up now and save us both a spot of bother.
Fiction book (1990) -
I had a spot of bother at the door.
Fiction book (1998) -
Uh, I'm just having a spot of bother with the facilities.
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Sergeant Angel's having a spot of bother.
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Recently, though, I've had a spot of bother.
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We know we're in a spot of bother, but things can be arranged, can't they?
Synonyms
29
2.1
A thing that causes trouble or annoyance
1
8.6
A small problem that causes worry and needs help
Antonyms
How Serious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a minor difficulty' is directly built from 'spot' (a small amount) + 'bother' (trouble), so a learner who knows both words can infer 'a small trouble'. The collocation 'spot of X' regularly means 'a small amount of X' in English, a transparent compositional pattern likely understandable to B1 learners.
Etymology
Spot of bother comes from everyday British speech where spot meant a small amount, like in 'a spot of tea', and bother meant trouble. Picture a tiny 'spot' of trouble, a small problem you can usually fix, so the phrase means 'a minor difficulty'.