Mare's nest

I haven't seen this phrase used in years.  Having been partly raised and educated in the UK, though American, it makes it difficult to determine whether this is due to differences in US-UK writing and language use or whether it reflects a decline in a word or phrase usage.   

mare's nest

/ˈmerz ˌnest/ 

 

noun

1.

a complex and difficult situation; a muddle.

"your desk is usually a mare's nest"

2.

an illusory discovery.

"the mare's nest of perfect safety"

Looking at Ngram viewer, it appears that "mare's nest" was more commonly used in the past in the UK than in the US, but that it is on a rising trend in the US in the past 20 years whereas it is declining in the UK.  So just another weird philological trend.  

British English

American English