to have one's fat in the fire

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.

is to have one's plans frustrated. A vulgar expression borrowed from the vocabulary of the kitchen.


But take care that you don't, like the Paddy, touch off your machine at the wrong end; for the consequence, being unlooked for, might be bad, perhaps fatal, and then the fat would be in the fire, and you would be where the devil could give more reliable information about you than any other of your near relations.--N. Y. Herald.

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