bone in the throat

A continual source of vexation or frustration. Taxes will probably always be a bone in the throat for the people who live there. It's a beautiful town, but the high taxes are a real problem. A: "Only a small number of employees in management roles get a pension." B: "Well, that must be a bone in the throat for everyone else!" It's a great street to live on—well, except for the guy with the ramshackle house and wildly overgrown lawn. That's increasingly becoming a bone in the throat for us all.