kettle of fish

kettle of fish

n. pl. kettles of fish

1. A troublesomely awkward or embarrassing situation.

2. A matter to be reckoned with: Making money and keeping it are two quite different kettles of fish.

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kettle of fish

n

1. a situation; state of affairs (often used ironically in the phrase a pretty or fine kettle of fish)

2. case; matter for consideration that's quite a different kettle of fish

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kettle of fish - Meaning "mess, muddle," the phrase is from "a pretty kettle of fish," a corruption of "kiddle of fish," in which a kiddle is a basket set in the opening of a weir for catching fish.

See also related terms for mess.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

kettle of fish - informal terms for a difficult situation; "he got into a terrible fix"; "he made a muddle of his marriage" fix, jam, mess, muddle, pickle, hole difficulty - a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome; "grappling with financial difficulties" dog's breakfast, dog's dinner - a poor job; a mess; "they made a real dog's breakfast of that job"