ball and chain vs hang-up

ball and chain

noun
  • Anything that restricts one's freedom or opportunities. 

  • One's wife, as a symbol of restraint. 

  • A heavy iron ball attached to a prisoner's leg by a chain as a means of restraint. 

hang-up

noun
  • An emotional difficulty or a psychological inhibition; a complex. 

  • An unforeseen obstacle to progress; a hitch or delay. 

How often have the words ball and chain and hang-up occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )