in a pickle
Stuck in a mess with no easy way out.
Also called in a real pickle, in quite a pickle.
Updated September 24, 2026
in a pickle pronunciation
/in uh PICK-ul/
Meaning
Means you're in trouble: broke down on a dirt road, owing money, or caught between two bad choices. Redneck talk loves this one because it's soft enough for church and sharp enough for the porch. Not a little inconvenience. A real bind where you need help or luck.
How folks use it
- “Truck died five miles from the house; we're in a pickle.”
- “If the bank calls before payday, I'm in a pickle.”
Origin and etymology
Pickle once meant a brine or spicy sauce, from Dutch pekel. By the mid-1500s, English used pickle for a sorry plight. Shakespeare has How camest thou in this pickle? in The Tempest. The picture stuck: sitting in something sharp and uncomfortable.
Frequently asked questions
Does it have anything to do with cucumbers?
Not really. The older sense is the brine or mess itself. The cucumber came later. The idiom is about being stuck in a bad spot.