pickle

slang To be in a troublesome situation. The adjectives "pretty" and "right" are commonly used before "pickle." Boy, am I in a pickle—I accidentally made plans with two different men tonight! We're in a pretty pickle now because the hotel gave our room away!

Fig. in a bad situation. (*Typically: be ~; get [into] ~.) I really got myself into a fix. I owe a lot of money on my taxes. John is in a fix because he lost his wallet. John got into a fix.

Fig. in a mess; in trouble. (*Typically: be ~; get [into] ~.) John has gotten himself into a pickle. He has two dates for the party. Now we are in a pretty pickle. We are out of gas.

Fig. a difficult situation. (Pickle = a bad situation.) Well, this is a pretty pickle you've gotten us into.

experiencing a difficult situation He thinks the media are responsible for his being in such a pickle.

to be in a difficult situation If you run out of money in the middle of your stay you'll be in a right pickle.

Also, in a pickle or spot . In a difficult or embarrassing situation, in a dilemma. For example, I was really in a fix when I missed the plane, or Lost and out of gas-how did we get in such a pickle? or John had lost all his money in the crap game-now he was in a spot. The first of these colloquial usages dates from the early 1800s; pickle in the sense of a mess or quandary, sometimes put as in a pretty pickle, dates from the 1500s; spot, also put as in a bad spot or tough spot , dates from the early 1900s. Also see in a bind; in deep, def. 2; in the soup; in trouble; on the spot.