pretty pickle

pretty pickle

A particularly troublesome or difficult predicament. Boy, am I in a pretty pickle—I accidentally made plans to meet with two different clients at the same time today. Don't worry, I've been in prettier pickles than this. Well, this is a pretty pickle, isn't it? What can we do to get out of it?
See also: pickle, pretty
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

pretty pickle

Fig. a difficult situation. (Pickle = a bad situation.) Well, this is a pretty pickle you've gotten us into.
See also: pickle, pretty
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • in a pretty pickle
  • in a pickle
  • in a pickle, to be/get
  • be in a pickle
  • be in a fix
  • a pretty pass
  • be in (a bit of) a jam
  • be in a jam
  • play hide the pickle
  • hard sledding
References in classic literature
A pretty pickle, truly, thought I; abed here in a strange house in the broad day, with a cannibal and a tomahawk!
We had a lot of fun chatting with Joe and Jacob Anderson (who plays Unsullied commander Grey Worm) because they seemed genuinely happy sharing their thoughts about the show, comparing notes-and ribbing each other when they found themselves in a pretty pickle over a potentially controversial answer.
And he got himself into a pretty pickle as he pondered what kind of evening it would be for England and Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford: "You don't want him to do anything, really.
The Trump administration put itself in a pretty pickle when it decided to send the deal to the Congress.
American game laws are not quite as specific as they might be when such a pretty pickle comes to pass.
Tony Blair might reflect on the fact that Cherie would have been in a pretty pickle without it.
Take the former England captain out of the equation and, as goalkeeper Shay Given suggested a fortnight ago, the Geordies would be in a pretty pickle.
As part of a super package deal, it seems you were also on the receiving end of the clarity of vision of a bashful ostrich, the self-restraint of a rutting pig and the calmness in a crisis of a chicken that has recently parted company with its head - and you've ended up in a pretty pickle all round.