Rock and a hard place

Posted by The Fallen on January 04, 2002

In Reply to: Rock and a hard place posted by R. Berg on January 04, 2002

: : Hello
: : I have wondered about the possibility that "between a rock and a hard place" is simply an Americanization of being caught "between Scylla and Charybdis". (undoubtedly easier to spell and remember).
: : Since Scylla lives on a rock, the "hard" might actually stand for "difficult" or "dangerous", such as the whirlpool (Charybdis) on the other side of the ship.
: : Any thoughts on this?
: : C.

: You're in good company. Eric Partridge, in Dictionary of Catch Phrases: American and British, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day, also conjectured that Scylla and Charybdis had prompted "between a rock and a hard place."

Fractionally still on subject, I recall seeing 5 minutes of a truly appalling movie once, which was obviously a spoof of those 80's "classics" such as Top Gun and Rambo. The hero was due to parachute behind enemy lines in the Middle East into a very dangerous location, pointed out by his commanding officer on a large wall-mounted map as being neatly between Iraq and "A Hard Place"...