in the barrel

Meaning

Prepositional phrase

• In an unpleasant or dangerous situation.

Origin

• Attested 1950s.The Goon Show, “The Affair of the Lone Banana”, Series 5, Episode 5. First broadcast on October 26, 1954. Script by Spike Milligan.
• {{cite web |work=The Goon Show Site |title=The Affair of the Lone Banana |url=http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts_show.asp?title=s05e05_the_affair_of_the_lone_banana
• , “I just remembered it’s my turn in the barrel”.
• Presumably from a bawdy military joke, featuring a barrel with a glory hole, whose punchline is “It’s your turn in the barrel.”
• The joke has many variants and embellishments, but the kernel is: a new sailor is being given a tour of the boat, and is shown a barrel with a glory hole, which they are able to use any time, except Tuesdays. When he asks why not Tuesdays, he is told: “Because it’s your turn in the barrel.”
• Other hypotheses is that it is derived from like shooting fish in a barrel, or that it referred to a form of punishment in which the malefactor was confined within a barrel.