kettle of fish
noun
Forms kettles of fish kiddle of fish kittle of fish keddle of fish
- noun (idiomatic) An awkward situation. “fine kettle of fish pretty kettle of fish”
- noun (idiomatic) A situation recognized as different from or as an alternative to some other situation. “another kettle of fish new kettle of fish different kettle of fish”
Synonyms
cauldron mess can of worms predicament ass in a sling bind bucket of syrup calvary cross cross to bear difficulty dilemma dire straits doghouse fix hole jam kettle ordeal pickle muddle
Etymology
From kettle, a variant of kiddle, a weir or fence of stakes in a stream used to catch fish.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “kettle of fish”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details