2. In a Pickle: 處于困境
How Shakespeare used it:
In The Tempest, King Alonso asks his jester, Trinculo, "How camest thou in this pickle?" And the drunk Trinculo – who has indeed gotten into trouble – responds "I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last ..." (Act 5, Scene 1)
莎士比亞原文:在《暴風雨》中,那不勒斯國王阿朗索問他的弄臣特林鳩羅,“你怎么讓自己到這般境地了?”的確深陷困境且已爛醉的特林鳩羅回答說:“我自從上次參見過您之后就一直處于這般境地了…”(第5幕第1場)
One theory has it that the phrase in a pickle entered English from an old Dutch expression that translates as something like "sit in the pickle".
有一種說法認為in a pickle這個短語來源于一個古代的荷蘭語表達,類似于“坐在咸菜缸”里這樣一個說法。
現(xiàn)代例句:
"Has the NYT got itself into a pickle over digital editions on Kindle and iPad?" — adamhodgkin on Twitter, May 6, 2010