Originated in the United States before 1918 in southwest, possibly in connection with mining. Related to the concept of the Ancient Greeks: between Scylla and Charybdis.
Prepositional phrase
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between a rock and a hard place
- (idiomatic) In a difficult and inescapable position. [from early 20th c.]
2008, David Merde, Beyond Final Arrangements, page 511:After meeting again that afternoon with Donna, Wilbur had advised her that she was indeed between a rock and a hard place. She could not hope to recover and build back the lost business until the suits were settled, and it appeared that the only way to settle the suits without going to court was to liquidate the mortuary assets or tap into the Clifton's personal funds.
- 2017 March 3, Nintendo EPD, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo, description for Rock-Hard Food:
- A dish gone awry after adding the wrong ingredient. Chewing your way through this won't be fun, but it will fill you up when you're between a rock and a hard place.
- (idiomatic) Having the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.
- Synonyms: between Scylla and Charybdis, between the devil and the deep blue sea; see also Thesaurus:dilemma, Thesaurus:difficult situation
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 September 11, Eric Dash, Geraldine Fabrikant, “Washington Mutual stock falls on investor fears”, in New York Times, retrieved 24 August 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.
in a difficult and inescapable position
- Arabic: بَيْنَ المِطْرَقَة وَالسِّنْدَان (bayna l-mitraqa wa s-sindān, literally “between the hammer and the anvil”)
- Armenian: երկու քարի արանքում (hy) (erku kʻari arankʻum, literally “between two stones”)
- Bulgarian: между чука́ и накова́лнята (meždu čuká i nakoválnjata, literally “between the hammer and the anvil”)
- Catalan: entre l'espasa i la paret (literally “between the sword and the wall”)
- Czech: dvěma mlýnskými kameny (literally “between two millstones”)
- Finnish: puun ja kuoren välissä (literally “between the wood and the bark”), valita ruton ja koleran väliltä (fi) (literally “to (have to) choose between the plague and cholera”), kiipelissä (fi)
- French: entre le marteau et l’enclume (fr) (literally “between the hammer and the anvil”), entre l’arbre et l’écorce (fr) (literally “between the wood and the bark”), pris entre deux feux (fr) (literally “caught between two fires”)
- German: in der Zwickmühle; zwischen Hammer und Amboss (literally “between the hammer and the anvil”); zwischen den Stühlen (literally “between the stools”); zwischen Baum und Borke (literally “between the tree and the bark”); weder ein noch aus wissen (literally “not to know in nor out”)
- Greek: μπρος γκρεμός και πίσω ρέμα (bros gkremós kai píso réma, literally “cliff in front, torrent behind”) (colloquial), μεταξύ σφύρας και άκμωνος (metaxý sfýras kai ákmonos, literally “between the hammer and the anvil”), μεταξύ Σκύλλας και Χάρυβδης (metaxý Skýllas kai Cháryvdis, literally “between Scylla and Charybdis”)
- Hebrew: בֵּין הַפַּטִּישׁ וְהַסַּדָּן (he) (bein hapatísh vehasadán, literally “between the hammer and the anvil”)
- Icelandic: á milli steins og sleggju (is) (literally “between a stone and a hammer”), milli tveggja elda (is) (literally “between two fires”)
- Italian: tra l'incudine e il martello (literally “between the anvil and the hammer”)
- Japanese: 板ばさみ (ja) (ita-basami, literally “between two boards”)
- Korean: 진퇴양난(進退兩難) (ko) (jintoeyangnan), 빼도 박도 못한다 (ppaedo bakdo mothanda)
- Latin: inter sacrum saxumque (literally “between the sacrifice and the stone”), a fronte praecipitium, a tergo lupi (literally “a precipice in front, wolves behind”)
- Malayalam: ചെകുത്താനും കടലിനുമിടയിൽ (cekuttānuṁ kaṭalinumiṭayil, literally “between the devil and the sea”)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: mellom barken og veden (literally “between the tree and the bark”)
- Nynorsk: mellom borken og veden (literally “between the tree and the bark”)
- Polish: między młotem a kowadłem (pl) (literally “between the hammer and the anvil”)
- Portuguese: entre a cruz e a espada (pt) (literally “between the cross and the sword”), entre a cruz e a caldeirinha (pt) (literally “between the cross and the pot”)
- Romanian: între ciocan și nicovală (literally “between the hammer and the anvil”)
- Russian: ме́жду мо́лотом и накова́льней (ru) (méždu mólotom i nakoválʹnej, literally “between a hammer and an anvil”), ме́жду двух огне́й (méždu dvux ognéj, literally “between two fires”)
- Scottish Gaelic: eadar dà chloich (literally “between two rocks”), eadar a' chlach is an sgrath (literally “between the stone and the turf”)
- Spanish: entre la espada y la pared (es) (literally “between the sword and the wall”)
- Vietnamese: tiến thoái lưỡng nan (vi) (literally “it's difficult either to advance or to retreat”)
- Yiddish: צווישן האַמער און קאָוואַדלע (tsvishn hamer un kovadle, literally “between hammer and anvil”)
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having the choice between two unpleasant options
- Arabic: أَمامَ خِيارَيْنِ أَحْلاهُمَا مُرّ (ʔamāma ḵiyārayni ʔaḥlāhumā murr, literally “having two choices the sweeter of which is bitter”)
- Bulgarian: между чука́ и накова́лнята (meždu čuká i nakoválnjata, literally “between the hammer and the anvil”)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 進退兩難/进退两难 (zeon3 teoi3 loeng5 naan4)
- Hakka: 進退兩難/进退两难 (chin-thui-lióng-nàn)
- Hokkien: 進退兩難/进退两难 (zh-min-nan) (chìn-thè-lióng-lân / chìn-thòe-lióng-lân)
- Mandarin: 進退兩難/进退两难 (zh) (jìntuìliǎngnán)
- Danish: (valge) mellem pest og kolera (literally “(choose) between plague and cholera”)
- Dutch: (kiezen) tussen pest en cholera (literally “(choose) between plague and cholera”)
- Esperanto: esti inter martelo kaj amboso
- Finnish: puun ja kuoren välissä (literally “between the wood and the bark”), kahden tulen välissä (literally “between two fires”)
- French: entre la peste et le choléra (literally “between the plague and cholera”), entre le marteau et l’enclume (fr)
- German: zwischen Pest und Cholera (literally “between plague and cholera”)
- Greek: μπρος γκρεμός και πίσω ρέμα (bros gkremós kai píso réma, literally “cliff in front, torrent behind”) (colloquial), μεταξύ σφύρας και άκμωνος (metaxý sfýras kai ákmonos, literally “between the hammer and the anvil”), μεταξύ Σκύλλας και Χάρυβδης (metaxý Skýllas kai Cháryvdis, literally “between Scylla and Charybdis”)
- Hungarian: kutyaszorító (hu), két tűz között, két malomkő között, nem tudja, melyik ujját harapja le, nehéz helyzetben
- Icelandic: á milli steins og sleggju (is) (literally “between the rock and the sledgehammer”), milli tveggja elda (is) (literally “between two fires”)
- Italian: fra l'incudine ed il martello (literally “between the anvil and the hammer”)
- Japanese: 前門の虎、後門の狼 (ja) (ぜんもんのとら、こうもんのおおかみ; zenmon no tora, kōmon no ōkami, literally “a tiger at the front gate, a wolf at the back gate”)
- Polish: między młotem a kowadłem (pl) (literally “between the hammer and the anvil”)
- Portuguese: entre a cruz e a espada (pt) (literally “between the cross and the sword”), entre a espada e a parede (pt) (literally “between the sword and the wall”)
- Russian: ме́жду двух огне́й (méždu dvux ognéj, literally “between two fires”), ме́жду мо́лотом и накова́льней (ru) (méždu mólotom i nakoválʹnej, literally “between hammer and anvil”), ме́жду Сци́ллой и Хари́бдой (ru) (méždu Scílloj i Xaríbdoj, literally “between Scylla and Charybdis”)
- Scottish Gaelic: eadar a' chlach is an sgrath (literally “between the stone and the turf”)
- Spanish: entre la espada y la pared (es) (literally “between the sword and the wall”)
- Swedish: mellan pest och kolera (sv) (literally “between plague and cholera”), mellan två eldar (literally “between two fires”), i valet och kvalet (literally “in the choice and the torment”)
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Translations to be checked: "between a rock and a hard place"