"In a Pinch" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 26/04/2021

0:00 - How to Say, “In a pinch.”
0:20 - Examples of “In a pinch.”
0:58 - Meaning of “In a pinch.”
1:34 - Origin of “In a pinch.”
3:09 - More Examples of “In a pinch.”
3:56 - Conclusion

“In a pinch.”

If someone says that something will do “in a pinch”, it means that the situation is not ideal, preferred, perfect, but the solution will suffice, be good enough, work.

“We should wash our hands with soap and water, but hand sanitizer will do in a pinch,” you might tell your family before starting a picnic.

Maybe the café has run out of milk for your tea, “It’s okay, soya milk will do in a pinch.”

“I can’t find my shovel, but in a pinch, my bare hands will do,” you might be talking to yourself while gardening.

As you can see, if you’re “in a pinch”, you’re not in the ideal, perfect, best situation and you’ll need to find something to help you along anyway…

… the solution you utilize might not even be your second choice, but when things are tough, difficult, you may have no choice; almost any resolution is welcome “in a pinch”.

According to “The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms”, the idiom, “in a pinch” originates in the late 1400s, but was originally “at a pinch”.

“Pinch”, in other words, being a tight spot, when you’re squeezed. You may also find yourself “in a jam”, “in a pickle”, or “between a rock and a hard place”.

We all have goals that we want to achieve (and if you don’t, you might find yourself unhappy; in such case, you need to find some goals as we are happiest when we are pursuing goals!)...

… and it is rare that we have all the tools, money and people we need to achieve those goals. We might say that we’re in a pinch when it comes to achieving our goals.

As they say, however, “the best tool is the tool at hand”. In other words, we may always be in a pinch when it comes to achieving our goals, but that should not stop us from moving toward them.

“Sometimes, the things you do in a pinch turn out to have the most impact on your life,” your dad might be giving you wise advice.

Perhaps your wife is cooking Taiwanese food, but you’ve run out of noodles, “Well, in a pinch you can use spaghetti, you just have to cook it for longer.”

“We’ve run out of lead solder, but in a pinch we can use this aluminum wire,” your colleague might say while repairing some electronics.

So, the next time you find yourself hard-pressed, in a difficult situation, at your wit’s end, you can say that you’re “in a pinch”...

… and if you’ve found a less-than-ideal, substitute, secondary solution to your problem, you can exclaim that, “in a pinch, it’ll do!”

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References: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/in+a+pinch