out of the frying pan into the fire

out of the frying pan into the fire
also, out of the frying pan and into the fire

Meaning | Synonyms

• to go from a bad to worse situation
• used to refer when a bad situation turned critical
• moving from a very difficult position to one that is considered much worse

Example Sentences

1. In a bid to gain independence, she agreed to get married early, not knowing she was jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
2. Moving from my old school to this one is like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire.
3. I wanted to fix the leakage but being so old the pipe was straight out of the frying pan and into the fire.
4. Liza started shouting at me in public when I went to apologize. I was like out of the frying pan into the fire.

Origin

This phrase originated from the earliest century Greek poetry and is used to describe the process of trying to escape a smoke and getting scorched by the flames instead. The poet Caesar Germanicus first used it in describing the fate of a hare who got devoured by a sea dog when it jumped into the sea while trying to run away from a dog. The next time it was used was in the Latin seafarer's tale where it was said that one of the characters in trying to avoid Charybdis ran on Scylla. This phrase was once again spotted in a collection of Aesop's fables where someone was urging his mates to jump into the water to save themselves and when they did, they landed on burning coals instead.