in de nesten

Dutch

Etymology

Literally, “in the nests”, based on the image of a nest as a entangled mass of twigs from which it is hard to extricate oneself.[1]

Prepositional phrase

in de nesten

  1. (idiomatic) in deep trouble, screwed
    Synonyms: in de puree, in de penarie, in de soep, in de rats, in een lastig parket
    in de nesten zitten ― to be in deep touble
    in de nesten komen/raken ― to get in deep trouble
    zich in de nesten werken ― to get oneself in deep trouble

See also

References

  1. ^ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “nesten”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
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