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(fēng)雨》中,那不勒斯國(guó)王阿朗索問(wèn)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(shuō):“我自從上次參見過(guò)您之后就一直處于這般境地了…”(第5幕第1場(chǎng))
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(shuō)法認(rèn)為in a pickle這個(gè)短語(yǔ)來(lái)源于一個(gè)古代的荷蘭語(yǔ)表達(dá),類似于“坐在咸菜缸”里這樣一個(gè)說(shuō)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