a pretty kettle of fish

赤毛のアンに出てくるMarillaの台詞です。 "Well, this is a pretty kettle of fish," she said wrathfully. "a pretty kettle of fish" は何かの慣用句に違いありません。 "a pretty kettle of fish" は "a fine kettle of fish" とも言うようで、 ・Cambridge Idioms Dictionary: a difficult situation That's a fine kettle of fish - the car won't start and I have to leave in five minutes. ・McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.　Fig. a troublesome situation; a vexing problem. (Usually appears in the expression, This is a fine kettle of fish!) This is a fine kettle of fish. My husband is not here to meet me at the train station, and there's no phone here for me to call him. Alan: Oh, no! I've burned the roast. We don't have anything to serve our guests as a main dish. Jane: But they'll be here any minute! This is a fine kettle of fish. 引用例は全て "this/that is a pretty kettle of fish" で出てきます。 最近読んで "lock, stock and barrel"(http://blog.alc.co.jp/blog/3302827/158945 )の表現を覚えた（？）「理系・技術英語の学び方」のBuzz Phrase 35の項にもこの表現例が次ぎのようにありました。 Well, this is a fine kettle of fish. All of our assembly workers are on strike and we are behind schedule on production. 面白い表現ですね。 追記:　上の原稿は一週間以上も前に書いておいたので、「理系・技術英語の学び方」からは昨日も "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed".を取り上げたのに触れていませんでした。