Did a friend get themselves into trouble and wound up in a worse position than when they started? They went "out of the frying pan and into the fire." This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.
Meaning
The expression "out of the frying pan and into the fire" means when a situation goes from bad to worse. You can use the phrase to refer to a bad situation that turns critical and will have a bad outcome.
Example Usage
"England decided to leave the EU to secure the country's future. However, it looks like they went out of the frying pan and into the fire. Boris Johnson is an idiot."
"I grounded her for the weekend and caught her sneaking out of the house to hang out with her friends last night. Now she's gone out of the frying pan into the fire. Just wait til her dad gets home."
"The staff thought they were in trouble for missing the month's sales budget. The boss fielded a call from an upset client this morning, and now they're out of the frying pan and into the fore. Some people are going to lose their jobs over this."
"We're all in trouble for this. We thought things were bad before, but now we jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire."
"The US thought the coronavirus pandemic was bad, but now they have inflation to deal with as well. They're out of the frying pan and into the fire."
"The president thought he was in trouble for messing up the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Thanks to the dire shape of the economy, he's gone out of the frying pan and into the fire."
Origin
The expression "out of the frying pan and into the fire" originates from Thomas More in 1532. More wrote the pamphlet, "The Confutacyon of Tyndales Answere," in 1532, where the saying appears in archaic English as follows.
"Hath by his false caste of iuglynge, fetely conuayed hym self out of the fryenge panne, fayre into the fyre."
(Translation: He has, by his false reproach of trickery, conveyed himself out of the frying pan into the fire.)
The context of the saying suggests the frying pan was an illusory device used by demons to torture believers.
Tudor scholar Andrew Chertsey wrote "The Floure of the Commaundementes of God" in 1521, where another version of the saying reads as follows in archaic English.
"Here ben to deuylles the whiche bereth a fryenge panne for to haue me fryed wtin it by perdurabylyte."
(Translation: Here there were devils that brought a frying pan to fry me for eternity.)
Phrases Similar to Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire
- From bad to worse.
- Between a rock and a hard place.
Phrases Opposite to Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire
- Everything is peachy.
- No problem.
What is the Correct Saying?
- Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Ways People May Say Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire Incorrectly
The phrase "out of the frying pan and into the fore" has nothing to do with frying pans or fires. In this saying, the frying pan is a troubled state, and the fire is a worse situation. It's similar to saying "from bad to worse."
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Out of the Frying Pan into the Fire
You can use the expression "out of the frying pan and into the fire" to describe scenarios that turn from bad to worse. The saying applies to social and professional situations. For instance, you could say your colleague went out of the frying pan and into the fire after the boss called them to reprimand them, and the employee started blaming other staff, which, in turn, infuriated the boss further.
You could use it at home to describe how you caught your daughter sneaking out of the house at night after you grounded her, landing her with more severe punishment. The phrase suits verbal exchanges and text-based communications.