a kettle of fish
Preserved but no longer current.
An old Border name for a kind of fete champe*tre> or picnic by the river- side in which newly caught salmon is the chief dish. Having thickened some water with salt to the consistency of brine, the salmon is put therein and boiled; and when fit for eating, the company partake in gipsy fashion. The dis- comfort of this sort of picnic probably gave rise to the phrase "A pretty kettle of fish," meaning an awkward state of affairs, a mess, a muddle.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “a kettle of fish” mean?
An old Border name for a kind of fete champe*tre> or picnic by the river- side in which newly caught salmon is the chief dish. Having thickened some water with salt to the consistency of brine, the salmon is put therein and boiled; and when fit for eating, the company partake in gipsy fashion. The dis- comfort of this sort of picnic probably gave rise to the phrase "A pretty kettle of fish," meaning an awkward state of affairs, a mess, a muddle.
Is “a kettle of fish” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.