Meanings of “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”
The phrase “between a rock and a hard place” means a person trapped in a very difficult situation. There are various idiomatic phrases having the same meanings such as catch-22, the lesser of two evils, Hobson’s choice, and between Scylla and Charybdis. The phrase implies a situation in which a person doesn’t have any choice. He or she is facing a situation in which there are only two options and both are unsatisfactory and unwelcome.
Origin of “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”
The phrase “between a rock and a hard place” is stated to be an American version of various other phrases having the same meanings. It has been traced to a print form in Dialect Notes, V, published in 1921 as: “To be between a rock and a hard place, …to be bankrupt. Common in Arizona in recent panics.” Since then it has been in common use. The ‘recent panics’ referred to in the phrase is talking about the events that occurred in the US’ bankers panic in the year 1907 in which there was a dispute between the mineworkers in Arizona and copper mining companies.
Examples in Literature
Example #1
Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Gabriella Franco
I want your attention, i want it so badly
But if I get it, it will be deadly
I’ll run away with it, be way too happy
But it’s okay, ‘cause you won’t give it to meLove me, please, oh so slightly
Tell me I’m beautiful, look at my face
I want to help her out, but I love you
Stuck between a rock and a hard placeI should take the knife she placed in my back
And dig my way through the rock
I could get through the hard place
If I used the nails of the cross
The above lines expose the condition of the poet. He is trapped between a rock and a hard place in such a way that he wants the attention of his beloved but knows how deadly it can be. Therefore, he runs away. His love is trapped in a manner from which he cannot escape from or find a safe spot. The poet has used the phrase in the last line of the second stanza to show this condition of his love.
Example #2
Back Up to the Rock by Lee Brock
When you come in life to a hard place,
Pressing and confronting
Back up to the Solid Rock and stand
That’s the wisest thing to doBetween the Rock and hard place,
The Rock will o’er shadow you;
Back up to the Solid Rock and stand
That’s the safest thing to do.
These two stanzas explain the situation when a person is trapped between two hard choices. The poet has used repetition of the word “hard” in the first stanza to bring home his readers to the difficulty of thinking a way out when a person is trapped between two choices. Used in the first verse of the second stanza, the phrase explains how to save oneself from two difficult choices. The solution lies in sticking to the one hard choice and leaving the other.
Example #3
Rock and A Hard Place by Rolling Stone
The fields of Eden
Are full of trash
And if we beg and we borrow and steal
We’ll never get it back
People are hungry
They crowd around
And the city gets bigger as the country comes begging to townWe’re stuck between a rock
And a hard place
Between a rock
And a hard placeThis talk of freedom
And human rights
Means bullying and private wars and chucking all the dust into our eyes
And peasant people
Poorer than dirt
Who are caught in the crossfire, and got nothing to lose but their shirts, yeahWe’re stuck between a rock
And a hard place
Between a rock
And a hard place
You’d better stop
Put on a kind face
Between a rock
And a hard place
These are the last lines of a popular song sheds light on the situation of modern times where capitalism has made city dwellers rich and rural population poor, making them swarm the cities to beg for food. The poet berates this condition, including great slogans of human rights to conclude that he finds himself trapped between a rock and a hard place after looking at this. Repetition of this phrase in the shape of two verses occurring after every couple of lines stresses upon the meanings of the phrase.
Example #4
Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston
The author is a popular and brave mountaineer who has penned down his autobiography using this phrase as the title. Although it points to his situation, it also shows his struggle to overcome such circumstances. He has given a detailed description of such circumstances, like a solo climb on Colorado’s highest peak during his various expeditions. Therefore, it is apt to use this phrase for the title, making its meaning clear.
Examples in Sentences
Example #1: “Grade 9 students were trapped between a rock and a hard place because the art teacher and the science teacher gave them projects with the same deadline.”
Example #2: “John thought he was between a rock and a hard place, even after fighting the battle as a fierce lion and coming out victorious.”
Example #3: “The soldiers were literally between a rock and a hard place when they had to cross the sea and choose to be killed by Scylla or Charybdis.”
Example #4: “During an adventure, Ramsey and Sky had to choose between a rock and a hard place. They had to take a cheap hotel or sleep on the street.
Example #5: “Lilly had friends and family coming over for dinner, she didn’t know who to refuse and it was a situation like between a rock and a hard place.”
