Break from the Grind October 29, 2013
TRIVIAL PURSUITS: Origin of the phrase “in a pickle”
October 29, 2013 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - From where did the phrase “in a pickle” originate?
Reported by PS
Some sources say the phrase is borrowed from a Dutch phrase “in de pekel zitten”—“sitting in a pickle”—but, I could not confirm it originated from a Dutch phrase.
What is agreed upon by several sources is the phrase gets its meaning from the way that vegetables like gherkins and cucumbers were mixed up and preserved in pickle sauces hundreds of years ago. Someone who was deemed to be “in a pickle” was considered to be figuratively mixed up or in a situation that was difficult to sort out.