kettle of fish

kettle of fish

noun
1.
an awkward, difficult, or bad situation; muddle; mess: He's managed to get himself into a fine kettle of fish!
2.
a state of affairs; a matter under consideration: The new proposal is quite a different kettle of fish from the last one.

Origin:
1735–45
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Kettle of fish is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

kettle of fish

  1. Also, a fine or pretty kettle of fish. An unpleasant or messy predicament, as in They haven't spoken in years, and they're assigned to adjoining seatsthat's a fine kettle of fish. This term alludes to the Scottish riverside picnic called kettle of fish, where freshly caught salmon were boiled and eaten out of hand. [Early 1700s]

  2. a different or another kettle of fish. A very different matter or issue, not necessarily a bad one. For example, They're paying for the meal? That's a different kettle of fish. [First half of 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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