"Get in trouble"?

Question

What is the difference between "meterse en aprietos" and "meterse en líos"? (I get the vibe that with "aprietos" it means like a "bad situation" and "líos" is maybe more like you broke the rules...?) Which of these, if either, is more natural to use when you mean something like "He got in trouble at school"?

Answer 1

Aprietos literally means a tight situation, which is exactly the same as trouble. It's simply a matter of regional usage. In Mexico, for example, "meterse en líos" is commonly used.

Answer 2

"Meterse en aprietos" is to be in a situation with several problems at the same time with little possibilities to solve them. "Meterse en líos" is to be in trouble because you do some innapropriate or incorrect actions that are against the law. "He got in trouble at school", a more natural to say it in Spanish is "El se metió en problemas en la escuela", after that you describe waht hapenned at school.