“Between a rock and a hard place” is an idiom meaning to choose between two difficult options. Its origins trace back to Greek mythology, and it was first recorded in the US in 1921, possibly referring to the deportation of miners from Bisbee, Arizona. The expression is often used in situations where there are no easy solutions.
“Between a rock and a hard place” is an idiom used to convey the situation of having to choose between two difficult options. Both solutions to the problem present additional difficulties for an individual, with no alternative choice. The expression is often used when referring to situations of loss or defeat or in dilemmas where none of the answers present an easy way out. Other idiomatic expressions with similar meanings include “having to choose between two evils” and “having two choices: fat and thin”, although the phrase is more appropriate when used to refer to the situation at hand rather than the individual’s limited course of action .
Many etymologists trace the origins of this language back to Greek mythology. Legends have been written about a treacherous area at sea where sailors would find themselves stranded between Scylla, a monstrous multi-headed beast atop a cliff, and Charybdis, a massive whirlpool. Going either way meant certain death, creating an incredibly difficult dilemma for sailors to deal with. This story led to the creation of the expression “caught between Scylla and Charybdis,” which referred to being in an unavoidable situation.
The first recorded use of “between a rock and a hard place,” however, was in 1921 in the United States. The expression probably referred to the 1917 illegal deportation of more than 1,000 miners from Bisbee, Arizona. Many of the miners went on strike against their employers, alleging unsafe working conditions and poor treatment of employees. Rather than give in to their demands, the employers had the workers deported to New Mexico. The expression may have referred to the reality that the workers were faced with a difficult situation: either returning to the “rock” – the mines where they worked – and dealing with the problems of illegal labor practices, or entering the “hard place ” of poverty following the loss of their jobs following their expulsion.
It is also possible that the idiom referred to the prospect of having to choose between accepting deportation and the unfair legal proceedings that would ensue if they chose to challenge the employer’s actions. The city sheriff would hold mock proceedings when faced with cases against employers or unreasonable guidelines required to stay in Bisbee. Males unknown to the sheriff, or those who fell out of favor with the sheriff, were tried in court and threatened with deportation and physical beatings. Faced with the dilemma of having to choose between poverty in New Mexico and legal abuse in Bisbee, the miners found themselves without good options.
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