between a rock and a hard place

Facing two equally unpleasant, dangerous, or risky alternatives, where the avoidance of one ensures encountering the harm of the other. I was between a rock and a hard place, for if I didn't take out another loan—and go deeper into debt—I could not pay off the debts I already owed. You were really between a rock and a hard place when you had to choose between your career and your relationship.

Fig. in a very difficult position; facing a hard decision. I couldn't make up my mind. I was caught between a rock and a hard place. He had a dilemma on his hands. He was clearly between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Also, between the devil and the deep blue sea or Scylla and Charybdis . Between two equally difficult or unacceptable choices. For example, Trying to please both my boss and his supervisor puts me between a rock and a hard place . The rock and hard place version is the newest of these synonymous phrases, dating from the early 1900s, and alludes to being caught or crushed between two rocks. The oldest is Scylla and Charybdis, which in Homer's Odyssey signified a monster on a rock (Scylla) and a fatal whirlpool (Charybdis), between which Odysseus had to sail through a narrow passage. It was used figuratively by the Roman writer Virgil and many writers since. The devil in devil and deep blue sea, according to lexicographer Charles Earle Funk, referred to a seam around a ship's hull near the waterline, which, if a sailor was trying to caulk it in heavy seas, would cause him to fall overboard. Others disagree, however, and believe the phrase simply alludes to a choice between hellfire with the devil and drowning in deep waters.

If you are between a rock and a hard place, you are in a difficult situation where you have to choose between two equally unpleasant courses of action. You're between a rock and a hard place here. If you challenge John about his decision, he's going to be annoyed but if you don't, your staff are going to hate you. Note: People often say that they are caught or stuck between a rock and a hard place. We were caught between a rock and a hard place. We could spend two months planning the operation properly and people would say we were too late, or we could start immediately and be criticized for lack of preparation. Goss finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whichever course of action he chooses, he'll lose the support of some people.

Confronted with equally unpleasant alternatives and few or no opportunities to evade or circumvent them.

Faced with a choice between two unpleasant alternatives, or two evils. A newer version of between the devil and the deep blue sea and the classic between Scylla and Charybdis, this expression is American in origin and dates from the early twentieth century.