のっぴきならない状況 ― the fat is in the fire

日本語でよく、”のっぴきならない状況、状態”と言いますが、語源を調べると、”退き引き”ならない、というものがなまったもののようで、避けることも引くこともできない、どうしようもない状況を指すようです。

英語での表現は、


the fat is in the fire


です。fatとは脂肪のことだと思いますが、火に投げ込まれてしまった、つまりもう取り出す訳にもいかずどうしようもない、ということでしょうか。

Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idiomsによりますと、


If you say that the fat is in the fire, you mean that someone has said or done something which is going to upset other people and cause a lot of trouble.


とあり、微妙に意味するところが違うように思うのですが、発言してしまったこと、やってしまったことが取り返しがつかない、という点では、のっぴきならない、という意味の点で同じかもしれません。


The fact is that tea is yet another product whose production and prices have been affected by the droughts that have hit large parts of the globe.

Blame it on global warming, blame prices on demand continuing to rise at a (fractionally) greater rate than production, blame it on what you will - tea is yet another commodity signalling that we could be facing a period of structurally higher agricultural prices.

（中略）

It may not seem like a large decline, but according to the Indian Tea Association, in the first 11 months of last year the country's total production slipped to 920.9 million kg from the same months' 2008 total of 922.2 million kg.

（中略）

The fat was already in the fire. Drought had clobbered production in Kenya, the world's largest exporter and second-largest producer.

In the first 11 months of last year, production fell 9.4% to 278.8 million kg and exports fell 10.5% to 288 million kg.
(Jim Jones. A storm is brewing in the world of tea. Times Live.com. January 16, 2010.)