up the creek

• up a creek, up a creek without a paddle, up the creek without a paddle

The Oxford English Dictionary records the first use of "up the creek" as being in American English in 1941.

up the creek (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) In trouble; in a difficult situation.

   We'll be up the creek if we lose those files, so we should back them up regularly.

• The addition of "without a paddle" in alternative forms is considered by some to suggest an intensification of the difficulty of the situation.

• up shit creek