What was Big Willy Shakes going for?
We'll let you in on a little secret. This isn't referring to a pickle that you might find in your lunchbox or on the side of your burger. Back in Big Willy's day, pickle was kind of like jam or chutney. It was made from spices and a bunch of stewed veggies like cucumbers and baby pickles to make a preservative. Back in the 15th and 16th century, people would put pickle on meat dishes.
So when someone said "in a pickle," it didn't have anything to do with dill pickles. It meant that someone was caught up in the mix of making pickle. Being stewed, smashed, and served on a platter? No thank you. And that's what it meant to be "in a pickle."
Shakespeare came up with this phrase for The Tempest. Well, sort of. We should tell you that there are a few references before the legendary poet to using pickle as a way of expressing something else, like "ill pickle." But no one was in a pickle until Shakespeare rolled out The Tempest.
Well, no one would have described it that way at least. We're pretty sure loads of people were in sticky situations before Trinculo rolled onto the scene.