kick up a stew

English

Etymology

From dialectal stew (“(cloud of) dust”).

Verb

kick up a stew

  1. To cause trouble; cause a dust-up; cause a hubbub.
    • 1898, James Riley, Songs of Two Peoples, page 42:
      But if you come to the United States to jest kick up a stew, / 'Tween Abner Jones an' his man Mike, an' neighbor Donahue, ' […]
    • 1916, William Heyliger, Captain Fair-and-Square page 91:
      " […] would rush in and kick up a stew and get all the worst of it. That's not my style."
    • 1920 July 15, The Plumbers Trade Journal, volume 69, page 83:
      Bathing girls of the outdoor kind have cruised before the public eye for years, without causing more than a passing ripple, so why should the bathing girl kick up a stew the minute she does her bath- ing within the privacy of her own home , e'en though she be portrayed on a billboard ? Of course , we will admit the advertiser might have soothed the ruffled feelings of his public […]
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see kick,‎ stew.
    • 1994, Leftare P. Delis, The Inside Passage, page 166:
      The Verna swerved close, her stern kicking up a stew as she started to back up.
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