In a Jam

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David09 - I have made jam a few different times, and also have a hard time seeing how this relates to this expression.

Of course, I don’t know much about how to make jam. Maybe the process of making jam involves compacting things together in a way that they are bound and nearly inseparable, I don’t know. All other uses of the phrase in the article seem to make more sense.

Everybody Can Learn English

If I really make my imagination stretch, I can see some similarities there. Everything in the jar needs to be bound together, which would be similar to some definitions of this saying. But this is just for the word itself. The phrase "being in a jam" to me, means being in trouble, or a bad situation whatever that is. If I'm in a situation that I don't like or don't want to be in, I say "I'm in a jam."

I mean you can have four lanes worth of cars in a two lane highway. They are inches from each other, and I am not exaggerating. Driving there was one of the worst experiences of my life, and when I could, I simply deferred to the services of a driver and let myself sit in the passenger seat. I think that is one reason this doesn't bother her. She is afraid she would be too bored if there wasn't something going on to put her in a tight spot. In my circle of friends, we use "jam" a lot to say different things and we're not talking about strawberry or grape jam. When we play music, we say that we're "jammin'." My brother says he's "goin' to a jam" on the weekends. He uses "jam" instead of house party. Sometimes I use "jam" instead of money, kind of like how "dough" is used. When I think of being "in a jam" the first thing that comes to my mind is a traffic jam. I live on the east coast, and you never know what the traffic is going to be like getting anywhere. fify-- Yea, it's the same thing. The only difference might be that when we say "in a bind," it's not something that is physically bound. It's about a situation or a emotional state.Everyone is always in such a hurry, that something like a traffic jam can really make a lot of people upset and angry. I have never known anyone who thinks of being "in a jam" like a traffic jam as a positive thing. In what other meanings do you folks use "jam" and "to be in a jam?" I'm sure there must be lots of other uses we don't know about. When you really stop and think about it, this is an interesting expression and I find it interesting to read about all the different explanations.

If you really want to be in a jam, in the literal sense, just spend four years in Asia like I did. You will not believe how closely compacted the cars are there! Charred - I don’t really get what jelly jam has to do with this word’s etymology. What does it mean if you say that you’re in a bit of a “fruit jam”? That really doesn’t make sense. Where were you yesterday? I was in a jam and needed someone to take my dog out and you didn't answer your phone.One of the biggest frustrations is that when it happens, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Getting mad and upset doesn't change anything or make the time go by any faster. My idea of someone "being in a jam", or in a tight spot has to do with relationships. One of my sisters is very blunt and never stops to think before she says anything.