what does "rock and a hard place mean?

Question

Where does the saying rock and a hard place come from?

Answer 1

US origin. The earliest known printed reference is Dialect Notes V, 1921:

"To be between a rock and a hard place, ..to be bankrupt. Common in Arizona in recent panics; sporadic in California."

The 'recent panics' referred to in that citation are undoubtedly the events surrounding the Bisbee deportations of 1917. In Bisbee, Arizona, in the early years of the 20th century, a dispute between copper mining companies and mineworkers developed. In 1917, the workers, some of whom had organized in labour unions, approached the company management with a list of demands for better pay and conditions. These were refused and subsequently many workers at the Bisbee mines were forcibly deported to New Mexico.

It's tempting to surmise, given that the mineworkers were faced with a choice between harsh and underpaid work at the rock-face on the one hand and unemployment and poverty on the other, that this is the source of the phrase.

Answer 2

None of the answers so far explains the phrase's ORIGINS --that is WHY this specific imagery was chosen-- including the one about "bankruptcy"
__________

Many surmise that it is simply a simplified, popularized form "between Scylla and Charybdis". This expression goes back to an episode in Homer's Odyssey in which the sailors are forced to try to navigate between two equally deadly perils -- Scylla was a terrifying monster who stood on rock cliffs, and Charybdis was a powerful, impassable whirlpool.

The ROCK reference is obvious; "hard" in "hard place" probably means "DIFFICULT" which fits perfectly fine with the danger/difficulty of Charybdis.
http://www.word-detective.com/back-h2.html
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/12/messages/670.html
http://www.emule.com/2poetry/phorum/read.php?4,20721


Others, like one previous answer, while noting that the two expressions have the same meaning, focus on the earliest attested use of "(caught) between a rock. . . " in 1921 to describe the hardships of miners in the early part of the century in Arizona.

The phrase is interpreted as referring specifically to the danger of BANKRUPTCY. Generally it is thought to connect to a financial panic early in the century; the 1921 reference seems to be specifically about the "Brisbee incident".

Here is the specific citation -
. The earliest known printed reference is Dialect Notes V, 1921:
"To be between a rock and a hard place, ..to be bankrupt. Common in Arizona in recent panics; sporadic in California."

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/62900.html
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/3/messages/132.html
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=rock

Proponents of this explanation may offer it in PLACE of the first one. But I see no reason why the two cannot be connected, especially since the Arizona miner setting actually offers NO explanation WHY this specific image might have been chosen!

I would suggest that the OCCASION of the coining/updating/simplifying of the expression might well be the financial hardship of early 20th century miners, but that whoever first used it did so based on Scylla and Charybdis.


More on Scylla and Charybdis:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-caught-between-the-scylla-and-charybdis.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scylla_and_Charybdis

Answer 3

What this basically means is that all your choices suck but, you still have to make a tough decision.
An example would be: choosing between expensive health care for years for a loved one or pulling the plug.
An implication to the phrase is: how have you set your priorities?

Answer 4

It refers to the fact that you are stuck in a situation that is not ideal, with no options on which way to go.

Picture the feeling you would get if you were lying on the road with a giant rock on you that you couldn't move.

When people find themselves in that position mentally, that's when the saying is appropriate.

Answer 5

In french there's a similar saying that goes like this... "Etre pris entre l'arbre et l'écorce" which means "Being stuck between tree and cork".

It also convey a sense of being stuck in a hopelessly tight situation that can be applied to many situations, not only money.

Answer 6

Good question. Imagine being pinned against a wall by a large boulder. Not much wriggle-room.

Answer 7

stuck between to imobile objects