🗓️ Idiom: Between a Rock and a Hard Place (ph)
💬 Meaning
- To be in a difficult situation with no easy or good choices.
- It means facing two bad options and having to choose between them.
🧠 Example Sentences
- We’re between a rock and a hard place: either we cut staff or miss our deadlines.
- The company was between a rock and a hard place during the budget crisis.
- She felt stuck between a rock and a hard place when choosing between two important clients.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the idea of being trapped between two hard surfaces with no easy escape. In business, it describes situations where every option has serious downsides.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Choosing between raising prices or cutting staff put the team __________.
Answer
between a rock and a hard place
2. Choose the correct meaning of “between a rock and a hard place”:
A) Being given many good options
B) Facing two difficult choices
C) Making a quick and easy decision
D) Solving a problem with no effort
Answer
B) Facing two difficult choices
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“The company had to choose between two bad options.” → Change the sentence using: between a rock and a hard place
Answer
The company was between a rock and a hard place.