When something is about to begin, get serious, or be put to the test. I’ve been training my body for months so that I could run the upcoming marathon, but tomorrow, when the race actually begins, that is when the rubber hits the road and I find out how conditioned I really am.
![Credit: Peteforsyth via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0]](http://sobritish.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/blog-rubber.jpg)
Credit: Peteforsyth via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0]
Now what drives on the road? Cars of course and trucks and bikes and motorcycles. All of these vehicles have one thing in common: tires are made up with rubber. So this idiom is likely referencing a car’s rubber tires making contact with the road.
The origin for this idiom (like many others in fact) is unclear, it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack! However one of the most popular theory that it seems to come from an add campaign for a tire company: Firestone. The company was selling the idea that where it really counted was where the rubber (tire) met the road and consumers should choose their brand to be safe.
This idiom has been found in the press in the late 50s in the “Los Angeles Times” within an article on the add agency jargon and also in the Newport Daily News featuring a business conference! This American Idiomatic is also used with “hits” instead of “meets”.
Keep in mind, though, that my etymology is not a 100% confirmation!
Wrong translation
> Quand la gomme rencontre la route
The correct French idiom
> C’est le point, le moment décisif
