BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA

= {literary} between two fires or between a rock and a hard place {adv. phr.} Between two dangers or difficulties, not knowing what to do. * /The pirates had to fight and be killed or give up and be hanged; they were between the devil and the deep blue sea./ * /The boy was between a rock and a hard place; he had to go home and be whipped or stay in town all night and be picked up by the police./ * /When the man's wife and her mother got together, he was between two fires./ Compare: COMING AND GOING(2), IN A BIND.