to fall between two stools
- idiom
- UK
:
no lograr nada
- If you keep changing your approach, you might end up falling between two stools.
Examples
-
The proposal falls between two stools and satisfies neither side fully.
-
Don't fall between two stools!
-
By trying to combine modern and traditional designs, the architect fell between two stools.
-
He often falls between two stools by trying to please everyone.
-
By trying to meet both deadlines, she ended up falling between two stools and didn’t complete either project.
-
His indecision about which job offer to accept made him fall between two stools, missing out on both opportunities.
-
The team's attempt to incorporate everyone's suggestions resulted in a final product that fell between two stools, pleasing neither group.
Antonyms
How Successful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The image 'fall between two stools' is partially derivable from the constituents — a learner who knows 'fall', 'between', 'two' and 'stool' can imagine someone missing both seats and thus failing to sit, which gives a hint of failing to achieve either option. However, the idiomatic extension to 'fail to achieve either of two aims because of trying to satisfy both' is metaphorical and not fully predictable from the literal words, so a B1 learner would likely not infer the precise pragmatic sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom fall between two stools comes from the image of someone trying to sit on two stools at the same time. They fall into the gap and miss both seats, so the saying means 'to fail to achieve either of two aims'.