howdy, jan new, and welcome.
the OED doesn’t give a very helpful etymology, but it says this:
1. = STICKING-PLACE
1826 Sporting Mag. XVIII. 213 Screwing our courage to the sticking point. 1887 BIRRELL C. Brontë i. 16 To rouse her aunt’s enthusiasm to the sticking-point of lending her some money.
2. = point at which one sticks and beyond which one refuses to go; a subject upon which one will not yield or compromise; an obstacle.
1965 Listener 23 Sept. 441/1 As a politician he has been mild to the point of compromise. But one sticking point for him has been India’s unity. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 3/2 An early sticking point is expected to come when the Russians raise the question of reopening the Port of Vancouver to the supply ships. 1981 Church Times 27 Mar. 12/5 It is not the matter of women priests that is the main sticking point.
not that you needed the definitions, but the first recorded uses are interesting.
certainly someone else will find something…
david
