Fig. to go from a difficult situation into another equally or even more serious

The Browns were really happy when their noisy neighbors moved out, but when they found out that their new neighbors had 25 dogs, they thought they jumped out of the frying pan into the fire

I Rossi furono molto contenti quando i loro vicini tanto rumorosi traslocarono, ma quando scoprirono che i nuovi vicini avevano 25 cani, pensarono di essere caduti dalla padella nella brace

She jumped out of the frying pan into the fire when, after divorcing her first husband on grounds of mental cruelty, married an alcoholic who abused and beat her

È caduta dalla padella nella brace quando, dopo aver divorziato dal primo marito per crudeltà mentale, ha sposato un alcolizzato che la maltrattava e la picchiava

This saying, that is common to many languages, goes back to ancient Roman times, when Tertullian had it in Latin some 1,800 years ago. One of the earliest examples in English is by Sir Thomas More in 1528: "Lepe they lyke a flounder out of a frying-panne into the fyre". The expression refers to a fable in which a little fish, trying to escape the frying oil in the pan, jumped, followed by his companions, from the pan into the fire