the.com/snag
The small problem that promises to be quick and then eats your afternoon.
means An unexpected obstacle or complication that catches on something and disrupts an otherwise smooth process.
from Originally a Scandinavian-rooted word for a jagged stump, knot, or sharp protruding branch — the kind of thing that could snag a fishing net or tear a passing sleeve. English borrowed it in the 1500s-1600s for these literal snags in wood and water, and sailors used it for submerged tree stumps that could rip open a boat's hull. By the 1800s it had drifted ashore metaphorically: any hidden snag in a plan is just a submerged stump waiting to catch you unawares.
- origin
- Originally meant a sharp tree stump or jagged branch
- usage shift
- Became slang for any unexpected catch by 1800s
- fabric sense
- A pulled thread that unravels your whole sweater
- aussie slang
- Also just means a sausage, unrelated and delicious