have a bone to pick
have a bone to pick (with one)
To have an issue to discuss, argue about, or bring up (with one), typically something that is a source of annoyance for the speaker. Hey, I have a bone to pick with you! Why didn't you put gas in my car after you borrowed it? Uh oh, the boss looks like she's got a bone to pick. I wonder who screwed up this time.
See also: bone, have, pick
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
have a bone to pick (with someone)
to have a disagreement to discuss with someone; to have something to argue about with someone. Hey, Bill. I've got a bone to pick with you. Where is the money you owe me? I had a bone to pick with her, but she was so sweet that I forgot about it.
See also: bone, have, pick
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
have a bone to pick, to
To have a point to argue, an unpleasant issue to discuss, or a complaint. This term, which alludes both to a dog worrying a bone and to two dogs fighting over a single bone, dates from the early sixteenth century. “I will add this, which may be a bone for you to pick on,” wrote James Calfhill (Answer to Martiall, 1565)—that is, an issue to worry to death. “There is a bone for the gastronomers to pick,” Sir Walter Scott was quoted as saying about 1830, denoting something for more than one person to argue about.
See also: bone, have
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- a bone to pick
- a crow to pluck
- anything else?
- (Is there) anything else?
- (will there be) anything else?
- peeve
- pet peeve
- pet peeve, one's
- Would it kill (someone) to (do something)?