in a jimjam
- idiom
- Archaic
:
en un lío
- He always gets in a jimjam before big presentations at work.
Examples
-
There's no need to be in a jimjam about the upcoming test; you'll do fine.
-
Whenever she misplaces her keys, she ends up in a jimjam for hours.
-
She was in a jimjam before her big presentation.
-
Why are you in a jimjam about the exam?
-
He always gets in a jimjam before big presentations at work.
-
There's no need to be in a jimjam about the upcoming test; you'll do fine.
-
Whenever she misplaces her keys, she ends up in a jimjam for hours.
Synonyms
35
2.9
Feeling very upset, worried, or hurt
8
5.3
Very noisy and upset because people are angry or worried
Being confused and worried about what to do
Feeling very upset or worried and showing strong feelings
With much hurry and disorder
Antonyms
How Anxious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The preposition 'in' and article 'a' are fully transparent but give no semantic content that would yield 'confused or anxious'; the critical item 'jimjams' is slang with senses (e.g. anxiety or pajamas) that are lexicalized and not compositionally predictable. Because the idiomatic sense ‘nervousness/upset’ is dialectal/slang and cannot be derived from the literal constituents by a B1 learner, the expression is opaque.
Etymology
The idiom in a jimjam may come from an old word jim-jams for a sudden trembling or nervous fit, and it creates the image of someone shaking and feeling tied up inside their clothes. That's why saying you are in a jimjam means 'confused or anxious'.