{"id":3616,"date":"2022-05-21T18:58:18","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T18:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=3616"},"modified":"2022-05-21T18:58:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T18:58:18","slug":"in-a-pickle-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/in-a-pickle-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"In a Pickle \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for a way to tell someone that you are in trouble and need their help? If so, you could use the saying \u201c<em>in a pickle<\/em>\u201d to describe your situation. This post unpacks this expression's meaning and origin.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re telling someone you\u2019re \u201c<em>in a pickle<\/em>,\u201d\u201d it means you\u2019re in a precarious situation. Typically, you\u2019re using it as a segue into asking them for help with a problem. You can use \u201cI\u2019m in a pickle\u201d to describe situations with varying degrees of consequence.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Being in a pickle could mean that you\u2019re facing a small challenge at work, and you need a colleague's assistance with finding a solution. Or it could mean that you\u2019re in a pickle because you left the concert tickets at home, and there are only 30-minutes left until the start of the show.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what to do here, John. I\u2019m in a bit of a pickle with the boss over the Jefferson account, and I don\u2019t know how to handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re in a bit of a pickle here, Karen. You said that there wasn\u2019t anything in your bag, and now we found this. We\u2019ve got you on camera stealing it from the store.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis leaves things in a bit of a pickle, I\u2019m afraid. I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re going to do about it, but there\u2019s not much choice in the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, you got yourself in a pickle, and the first person you call is me? Why do you think I would do anything to help you after last time?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe always end up in a pickle when we leave things to the last minute. Next time, I will properly plan this before we mess it up again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3617\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/In-a-Pickle.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"179\" height=\"179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/In-a-Pickle.jpg 293w, https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/In-a-Pickle-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/In-a-Pickle-120x120.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 179px) 100vw, 179px\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3618\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/In-a-Pickle2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"176\" height=\"176\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The origin of the expression \"in a pickle\" comes from the 1500s. The phrase's original meaning was to be \"in a fix.\" It went by several iterations over the centuries, such as \"in a stew\" in England in the 19th century.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Tusser's \"Five Hundreth Pointes of Good Husbandrie,\" published in 1573, records the earliest iteration of the phrase in print, where it appears as follows.<\/p>\n<p>\"Reape barlie with sickle, that lies in ill pickle.\"<\/p>\n<p>In the late 1700s, The Duke of Rutland toured Britain published his writing on his experiences in his travelogue, \"Journal of a Tour to the Northern Parts of Great Britain,\" 1796.<\/p>\n<p>In the book, the story shows The Duke present at the disinterment of the body of Thomas Beaufort, buried some 350 years earlier. The phrase appears as follows.<\/p>\n<p>\"The corpse was done up in a pickle, and the face wrapped up in a sear cloth.\",<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Meaning of &quot;in a pickle&quot; [ ForB English Lesson ]\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PG8vQx7NFKg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to In a Pickle<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In a jam.<\/li>\n<li>In a bind.<\/li>\n<li>In trouble.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to In a Pickle<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Everything\u2019s going great.<\/li>\n<li>No roadblocks in the way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In a pickle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say In a Pickle Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>The phrase has nothing to do with pickles. It\u2019s another way of telling someone that you\u2019re \u201cin a jam\u201d and you need some advice or help. The \u201cpickle\u201d in the saying is an unexpected and annoying or frustrating event derailing your progress.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase In a Pickle<\/h2>\n<p>You can say \u201cin a pickle\u201d when you\u2019re trying to tell someone that you\u2019re experiencing a challenging situation in life. That could involve a serious life event, like being trapped in a canoe in high waters, or a minor event, like being in trouble with the wife for missing your anniversary.<\/p>\n<p>It suits social and professional use. You could use it with your friends when you tell them you\u2019re in a pickle because you missed your car license renewal date and can't drive them home from the bar. You could use it at work to describe how you\u2019re in a jam with the boss, and you need to improve your work, or he might fire you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Are you looking for a way to tell someone that you are in trouble and need their help? If so, you could use the saying \u201cin a pickle\u201d to describe your situation. This post unpacks this expression's meaning and origin. Meaning If you\u2019re telling someone you\u2019re \u201cin a pickle,\u201d\u201d it means you\u2019re in a precarious [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3616"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3616"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3845,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3616\/revisions\/3845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}