caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

English

choice between two undesirable options

Italian: fra l'incudine ed il martello
Japanese: 前門の虎、後門の狼 (ぜんもんのとら、こうもんのおおかみ; zenmon no tora, kōmon no ōkami) (a tiger at the front gate, a wolf at the back gate)
Portuguese: entre a cruz e a espada (between the cross and the sword), entre a espada e a parede (pt)
Russian: ме́жду двух огне́й (méždu dvux ognéj) (between two fires), ме́жду мо́лотом и накова́льней (ru) (méždu mólotom i nakoválʹnej) (between hammer and anvil)
Spanish: entre la espada y la pared (between the sword and the wall)
Swedish: mellan två eldar (between two fires), i valet och kvalet (in the choice and the torment)

“Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea” in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, 2004, →ISBN.

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