Up The Creek (Without a Paddle)

Also:
Up a Creek
Up Shit Creek

Meaning of Idiom Up the Creek (Without a Paddle)

To be up the creek means to be in trouble, in a serious predicament, or an awkward position. ¹, ²,³

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Usage

The original form of this idiom is up the creek.

Up the creek without a paddle is a slightly humorous and intensified variant of the idiom.

Examples Of Use

“If my check doesn’t come by tomorrow I’ll be up the creek. The rent is due on Friday.”

“My car broke down in the middle of nowhere and my phone had no signal. I was up the creek without a paddle.”

Origin

Used since the late-1800s, this idiom is said to have its origin in military slang, referring to being lost, as in when on patrol, etc., calling to mind someone in a canoe being stranded in a river with no way to paddle. ⁴

The vulgar variant up shit creek intensifies the expression by conjuring up a creek filled with feces instead of water.

More Idioms Starting with U

• Use It or Lose It
• Umpteen Meaning
• Using ‘None Too’ In a Sentence
• Up and About
• Up to One’s Ears

More Military Related Idioms

• Desk Jockey
• Shoot Down
• Ship Out
• Army Brat
• Shell Shocked

More Up Idioms

• Drive Someone Up the Wall
• Go Belly Up
• Get Your Dander Up
• Screw UP
• Jig is Up, the

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References

1. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
2. Kirkpatrick, Elizabeth M. The Wordsworth Dictionary of Idioms. Ware: Wordsworth, 1995.
3. Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.
4. Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.