between a rock and a hard place

WOTD – 21 September 2008    

English

Etymology

Related to the concept of the Ancient Greeks: "between Scylla and Charybdis." Originated in the United States, possibly in the wake of the Bisbee Deportation.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Prepositional phrase

between a rock and a hard place

1. (idiomatic) Having the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.
   • 1970, David Sim, "Tangent":

     Husbands, it seems to me, are caught between the Rock of Feminism and the Hard Place of their own marriages […]

   • 2008 Sept. 11, Eric Dash and Geraldine Fabrikant, "Washington Mutual stock falls on investor fears", New York Times (retrieved 24 Aug 2012):

     If Washington Mutual needs to raise capital quickly, it will very likely find itself between a rock and a hard place, because credit markets have all but closed their doors to troubled banks.

Synonyms

• (caught) between the devil and the deep blue sea
• between Scylla and Charybdis
• be on the horns of a dilemma

Translations

between a rock and a hard place

• Armenian: երկու քարի արանքում (hy) (erku qari aranqum)  (between two stones)
• Catalan: entre l'espasa i la paret (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 進退兩難 (cmn), 进退两难 (cmn) (jìntuìliǎngnán)

• Czech: z bláta do louže (cs)
• Danish: (vælge mellem) pest og kolera ((choose between) plague and cholera)
• Finnish: puun ja kuoren välissä (between wood and bark)
• French: entre le marteau et l'enclume (fr) (between the hammer and the anvil), entre l'arbre et l'écorce (fr) (between the tree and the bark)
• German: in der Zwickmühle stecken (de)
• Greek: μεταξύ σφύρας και άκμωνος (el) (metaxý sfýras kai ákmonos)
• Icelandic: á milli steins og sleggju (between a stone and a hammer), milli tveggja elda (between two fires)

• Italian: tra l'incudine e il martello (it)
• Japanese: 板ばさみ (ja) (ita-basami) (between two boards)
• Khmer: ចុះ​ទឹក​ក្រពើរ ឡើង​លើ​ខ្លា (km)
• Polish: między młotem a kowadłem (pl)
• Portuguese: entre a cruz e a espada (between the cross and the sword)
• Russian: между молотом и наковальней (ru) (méždu mólotom i nakovál’nej)  (between a hammer and an anvil), между двух огней (ru) (méždu dvux ognéj)  (between two fires)
• Spanish: entre la espada y la pared (between the sword and the wall)
• Swedish: (välja) mellan pest och kolera ((choose) between plague and cholera)
• Telugu: ముందు నుయ్యి వెనుక గొయ్యి (muMdu nuyyi venuka goyyi)