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A rub is a difficulty.
The origin is unknown and it is most known for Shakespeare's use of it in Hamlet....
"To sleep: perchance to dream: ay there's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause;"
In Shakespeare's time a rub was an area of rough, or uneven ground, one might encounter while attempting to play a game of bowls (a popular game in the Elizabethan era, as the famous account of Sir Francis Drake's game of bowls confirms).
A rub was a problematic patch of turf that would sabotage or deflect ones attempt to roll the bowl with accuracy. Thus in Shakespeare's usage in Hamlet's soliloquy it means, the centre or source of the problem, that knotty or disagreeable fact or reality, that makes a problem a problem.
In the speech Hamlet is contemplating suicide. And he is inclined to take his own life, due to the sleep -- the eternal rest from his suffering -- that doing so would grant him. But what "dreams" will come to him in such a sleep? i.e. Might there be an afterlife that will have to be encountered if he kills himself, and if so, what is its character?
The thought of this possibility stays his hand from taking his life, it is the source of the problem that is preventing him from going down a route his will initially wanted to take him. Hence, "ay there's the rub."
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoIt means "that's the problem." It famously occurs in Hamlet's "To Be or not to be" speech in Act 3 Scene 1 of Hamlet: "To die, to sleep. To sleep . . . perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub!"
Wiki User
∙ 9y agoThis phrase from Shakespeare's Hamlet means "therein lies the problem or dilemma".
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To stroke or rub; something or someone
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pleural rub
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Which best tell what Shakespeare's phrase there's the rub means?
There's the problem
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Rub?
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What does the root rub mean?
It means "red."
What is the phrase 'rub a pencil book' when translated from English to Spanish?
Although it doesn't make too much sense, here it goes: Rub a pencil book - Frote un libro de lápiz This is not an ordinary phrase but a product in the market. You rub your pencil against the special paper sheets and beautiful pictures come up. In my childhood days this was known as "Cuaderno Lápiz Mágico"
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"En vou te encoxar" is a phrase in Portuguese that translates to "I'm going to grind against you." It is a sexually suggestive phrase that refers to someone wanting to rub or press their body against another person in a provocative or intrusive manner. It is important to note that this phrase is explicit and inappropriate in most contexts.
