bone of contention
idiom

- something that two or more people argue about strongly over a long period of time

Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

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ORIGIN

“Contention” derives from late 14th century Old French contencioun meaning “strife, dissension, quarreling”, directly from Latin contentionem “a vigorous struggling, a contest, a fight”. The meaning “a violent effort to obtain something” is from the 1570s.

“Bone of contention” evokes the idea of dogs fighting over a bone which in turn reminds us of the old proverb: “While two dogs are fighting over a bone, a third one runs away with it.”

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BONE IDIOMS

- the bare bones = the essentials, equipped with only the basics (I only use e-mail and surf the Internet, so I bought a bare bones computer.)

- to have a bone to pick with s/o = to have grounds for a quarrel (He has a bone to pick with you!)

- make no bones about = to be direct and candid about something (Let's make no bones about it, that mistake cost us a lot of money.)

- to feel it in one’s bones = to have an intuition about something (We’re going to win today’s match. I can feel it in my bones.)

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SYNONYMS

apple of discord, argument, beef, BONE OF CONTENTION, conflict, dispute, fly in the ointment, hurdle, impasse, impediment, matter at hand, obstacle, point in question, point of contention, sore point, sticking point, stumbling block, tender spot

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“A 40-hour work week without a pay increase will be a major BONE OF CONTENTION between management and the works council.”

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-3

and,

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40