be in a pickle

[ostap77]

"To be in a difficult situation". One of my dictionaries says that it's old-fashioned. Is it used nowadays?

 

[riquecohen]

"To be in a difficult situation". One of my dictionaries says that it's old-fashioned. Is it used nowadays?

I think it is old-fashioned, but I've been known to use it. Of course, I'm old.

 

[ostap77]

I think it is old-fashioned, but I've been known to use it. Of course, I'm old.

Hope no hard feelings taken.

 

[5jj]

I think it is old-fashioned, but I've been known to use it. Of course, I'm old.

I am with riquecohen - about the old-fashioned and the old.

I tend to say, 'I'm in a bit of a pickle'

 

[bhaisahab]

I am with riquecohen - about the old-fashioned and the old.

I tend to say, 'I'm in a bit of a pickle'

You can add me to the list as well.;-)

 

[Barb_D]

Gosh, you guys are old! :-D

My version is "in a bit of a jam."

 

[5jj]

Gosh, you guys are old! :-D Old, but distiguished.

My version is "in a bit of a jam." I hear that in BrE too - from other distinguished people.

5jj

 

[Tdol]

I use both (with 'in a bit of')

 

[ostap77]

5jj

Do you use it often because a Cambridge dictionary says it's old-fashioned too?

 

[5jj]

Do you use it often because a Cambridge dictionary says it's old-fashioned too?

I don't use it often - but that's because the situation doesn't arise that often.

 

[hermeowjesty]

"To be in a pickle" means to be in a difficult situation, from which one is unlikely to escape.
It's an American expression which comes from baseball slang for a baserunner caught between bases, or in a rundown. If the runner is caught in a rundown and is likely to be tagged out, no matter which direction he runs, he's said to be "in a pickle."

 

[Amela_Ze]

I think that it's a great expression and it's not old-fashioned.
I use it very often.

 

[5jj]

"
It's an American expression which comes from baseball slang

The expression is rather older than that: In a pickle

 

[Vidor]

not a teacher

"Eventually distributors of intelligent, dark, and frequently intense movies were finding themselves in -- what do you know? -- exactly the same pickle we are today."

Salon.com, today