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Due in a pinch



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Spacing confusion after "." | Difference between find and reveal
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Due in a pinch #1 (permalink) Sun Apr 09, 2006 0:14 am   Due in a pinch		  
I read this today in a forum, never hear this expression before:

"This idea might due in a pinch"
Flint
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Due in a pinch #2 (permalink) Sun Apr 09, 2006 0:36 am   Due in a pinch		  
Flint wrote:
I read this today in a forum, never hear this expression before:

"This idea might due in a pinch"


It should be, "This idea might do in a pinch."

"In a pinch" means in a difficult situation where you have no good choices. For example, you might say, "I don't like fish, but I'll eat it in a pinch." This means, "I don't like fish, but if I have nothing else, then I'll eat it."

In your sentence, the word do means the same thing as suffice.
Jamie (K)
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Due in a pinch #3 (permalink) Mon Apr 10, 2006 2:20 am   Due in a pinch		  
Jamie, I think you're right, thanks.
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Pinch #4 (permalink) Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:20 am   Pinch		  
Just a little addition:

You can also say 'at a pinch' with the same meaning, i.e. if really necessary: she can translate Portuguese at a pinch.

Another expression with 'pinch':

to feel the pinch: to be in difficulty because of lack of money.
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Pinch #5 (permalink) Mon Apr 10, 2006 12:25 pm   Pinch		  
Conchita wrote:
You can also say 'at a pinch' with the same meaning, i.e. if really necessary: she can translate Portuguese at a pinch.


Really? I've never heard it.

Oh, it looks like you can. I got 165,000 hits for it on Google. "In a pinch" yields more than two million, so I guess the expression is more common with "in".
Jamie (K)
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Pinch #6 (permalink) Mon Apr 10, 2006 13:27 pm   Pinch		  
Hi,

At a pinch is the one I know. With respect of course to St Google.

Alan
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