Drifting around like a fart in the marketplace.

A rationalization of "...like a fart in a pickle barrel", possibly by someone who did not fancy the image of a fermentation bubble working its way up thru the pickles.

A translation of Yiddish "vi a farts im roisl".

Originally a play on "vi a frantsoiz in Rusland" = like a Frenchman in Russia. Goes back to 1812. A simile for yesterday!

This information is due to Maurice Samuel of blessed memory.