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Idiom: In a pickle
From the end of the Japanese bubble economy (1992) until the early aughts, many young Japanese found themselves in a pickle.
It became challenging to find a good job in a large company.
It was such a challenge that many youths became what was known as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training).
In a pickle is an idiom that means to be stuck in a very challenging situation. Think about being in a sinking boat without a life jacket.
The result was that even today, these people find themselves still unable to gain a foothold in the business world.
Before we go any further, to be in a pickle means to be stuck in a challenging situation.
Think about a baseball player caught in a pinch between third base and home plate.
That runner is in a pickle.
When you think about pickles, don’t think about a jar of small cucumbers in a glass jar as in America or the Japanese style of pickled vegetable.
You need to think about the European spicey sauces made from stewed vegetables that went with meat dishes.
The vegetables were all mixed up and confused with each other.
This is where the meaning of being in a problematic situation has its origin.
These days, the Japanese economy has still not recovered from the bubble’s bursting and probably never will.
People, however, have learned to cope with the situation.
Young people may still find themselves in a pickle, but they are often the ones who have quit high school or immediately entered the workforce after school without attaining any formal secondary school training.
Education is the key to a promising future.
If you don’t want to find yourself in a pickle, acquire a good education, then continue to upgrade your skills.
The world is changing continuously, and so must you.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 65.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.