between the devil and the deep blue sea

English

Alternative forms

• between the devil and the deep sea

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

1. (idiomatic) Having a choice between two alternatives, both undesirable.

Translations

choice between two undesirable options

• Chinese:

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

• Finnish: puun ja kuoren välissä
• French: entre le marteau et l’enclume (fr)
• Icelandic: á milli steins og sleggju (is), milli tveggja elda (is)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: fra l'incudine ed il martello
• Japanese: 前門の虎、後門の狼 (ぜんもんのとら、こうもんのおおかみ; zenmon no tora, kōmon no ōkami) (a tiger at the front gate, a wolf at the back gate)
• Portuguese: entre a cruz e a espada (between the cross and the sword), entre a espada e a parede (pt)
• Russian: ме́жду двух огне́й (méždu dvux ognéj) (between two fires), ме́жду мо́лотом и накова́льней (ru) (méždu mólotom i nakoválʹnej) (between hammer and anvil)
• Spanish: entre la espada y la pared (between the sword and the wall)
• Swedish: mellan två eldar (between two fires), i valet och kvalet (in the choice and the torment)

See also

• lesser of two evils
• doomed if you do, doomed if you don't
• between a rock and a hard place
• between Scylla and Charybdis
• on the horns of a dilemma
• out of the frying pan, into the fire
• Hobson's choice

References

• Michael Quinion (2004) “Between the devil and the deep blue sea”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.