between Scylla and Charybdis
- idiom
- Literature
:
entre Escila y Caribdis
- After the scandal, the politician was between Scylla and Charybdis, unsure which move would do less damage.
Examples
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She felt between Scylla and Charybdis having to choose between her career and her family obligations.
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Small businesses are often between Scylla and Charybdis when facing regulatory changes or rising costs.
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I felt like I was between Scylla and Charybdis when choosing between the two job offers.
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She was caught between Scylla and Charybdis in her relationship decisions.
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Finding a job these days feels like being between Scylla and Charybdis: taking a low-paying job or remaining unemployed.
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She felt like she was between Scylla and Charybdis when deciding whether to move to a new city with no friends or stay in her hometown with a dead-end job.
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Choosing which college to attend is often between Scylla and Charybdis, as one offers excellent academics but is very far, and the other is close but has a poor reputation.
Synonyms
258
4.2
A situation where you must choose between two or more bad options
9
6.7
A difficult situation where you have no good choice
1
7.8
A situation that could easily end well or badly
1
9.0
You must choose between two options that are both bad
1
8.2
Facing a choice between two equally bad options
To have to choose between two equally bad options while people on both sides pressure you
A hard situation where no choice seems good
Surface Forms
Morphology
between + Scylla + and + Charybdis
This phrase is an allusive idiom drawn from Greek mythology referring to two specific hazards; its meaning (‘forced to choose between two equally dangerous options’) depends on cultural and literary knowledge rather than the literal meanings of the parts. A B1 learner who knows 'between', 'and' and the names 'Scylla' and 'Charybdis' is unlikely to infer the idiomatic sense without prior exposure, so the expression is not compositionally transparent.
Etymology
Between Scylla and Charybdis comes from an old Greek story where sailors had to pass a narrow sea with the monster Scylla on one side and the whirlpool Charybdis on the other. That's why the phrase means 'having to choose between two dangerous options'.