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Explaining “Out of the frying pan and into the fire”
Anwar Kareem 25/10/2024, 09:58
What does it mean?
The phrase means moving from a bad situation to an even worse one.
Tone
Cautionary
Origin
The idiom "Out of the frying pan and into the fire" traces its origins to an ancient Greek fable by Aesop, where a fish escapes a frying pan only to land in burning coals. One of the earliest documented uses in English was by Sir Thomas More in his 1532 work "The Confutacyon of Tyndales Answere," where he critiqued William Tyndale by stating that Tyndale "featly conuayed himself out of the frying panne fayre into the fyre."
Examples of usage
- After quitting a job she disliked, she found out her new job was even more demanding and stressful. She felt like she had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire.
- Hoping to escape the harsh weather, they moved to a coastal city only to experience frequent floods. It was truly a case of going out of the frying pan and into the fire.
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