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Feb 10, 2024 · Learn the origin, synonyms, and usage examples of the phrase "kettle of fish", which means a bad state of affairs or a matter to be considered. Find out how it differs from "a different kettle of fish".
Oct 26, 2011 · Learn the meaning and history of the phrase "kettle of fish", which means "a different thing" or "a whole new situation". Find out how it relates to Scottish picnics, boiled salmon, and American slang.
- The phrase means, as you said, 'a different thing.' According to this website : There was, it seems, a custom by which the gentry on the Scottish b...
- The British idiom a different kettle of fish and a whole new kettle of fish is related to the North American idiom a whole new ball game . The latt...
- A fine or pretty kettle of fish As Peter Shor's comment beneath Ralph Richardson's answer indicates, "kettle of fish" has been used as a slang term...
- I have the earliest attestation for the idiom dated to 1742 in Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs . The work is Henry Fielding's novel The Histo...
- It would appear from this that Americans call fish kettles something else. This page shows what we in the UK mean by a fish kettle. We regularly us...
- A Kitel or Ketel was a type of net/fence hybrid used in the sea but chiefly in rivers in Medieval England among other locales. They were drawn comp...
- I attribute this phrase to Laurel and Hardy, during the early 40's . Oliver would always say to Stan "this is another kettle of fish that you have...
kettle of fish. Any given situation or issue. Used with specific modifiers depending on the context, especially "fine" or "pretty" for something difficult or awkward, and "different" or "another" for something dissimilar. Well, that's a pretty kettle of fish.
Learn the meaning and usage of the idiom "be another/a different kettle of fish", which means to be completely different from something or someone else. See examples, synonyms, translations and related words.
- Kettle = Fish Kettle
- Kettle = Fishing Net
- So, Which Is Correct, Fish Kettle Or Fish Net?
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Fish kettles are the long saucepans that have been used since the 17th century to poach fish, especially large fish like whole salmon. In 1785 Thomas Newte published A Tour in England and Scotland. In this he referred to fish kettles: So, if we take Newte's word for it, the kettle in the expression 'a kettle of fish' is the cooking implement a fish...
The above explanation is entirely plausible and is what most people believe as the source of the phrase 'a pretty kettle of fish'. However, there is another word of very long-standing which may be the source of the phrase, and that is 'kiddle'. Kiddles are barriers or weirs in rivers designed to catch fish. Kiddle nets are part of that apparatus. K...
Both 'kettle' meaning fish kettle and 'kettle' meaning fishing net were in use before the expression came into existence. So, whoever coined the phrase could have had either in mind. Either could connect to imagery of muddle - either a fish stew or fish writhing in a net. However, everyone is, and was, familiar with the word kettle. Kiddle is, and ...
Learn the meaning and origin of the phrase 'a pretty kettle of fish', which means 'a muddle or awkward state of affairs'. Find out the difference between 'a pretty kettle of fish' and 'a different kettle of fish', and the possible sources of the expression.
In modern English, the idiom “kettle of fish” refers to a confusing or chaotic situation. It can also describe something that is entirely different from what was expected or planned. For example: – We thought we were going on vacation together, but now my friend wants her parents to come too – it’s quite a kettle of fish.
Learn the meaning and origin of the phrase 'a different kettle of fish', which means a different thing altogether. Find out the difference between 'a different kettle of fish' and 'a pretty kettle of fish'.
