between a rock and a hard place

ご存知の方も多いかもしれませんが、今日は、"between a rock and a hard place"という慣用句を取り上げます。

今日たまたま、この表現が使われているの見つけたCNNの記事から引用します。

(CNN Business) - India's efforts to crack down on dissent have left Twitter with an impossible balancing act: protecting the speech of its users, or risking its employees and business in one of the company's most vital markets.

Early last week, Twitter reportedly suspended hundreds of accounts at the government's behest, including one handle with over 200,000 followers supporting the ongoing protests by farmers against new agricultural reforms and another belonging to one of the country's most prominent magazines.

"In our continuing effort to make our services available to people everywhere, if we receive a properly scoped request from an authorized entity, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in a particular country from time to time," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement at the time.

(Rishi Iyengar. Twitter is stuck between a rock and a hard place in India. CNN. February 10, 2021.)

この慣用句が使われているのは記事のタイトル部分ですが、

苦境に陥って（ランダムハウス英和辞書）

in a difficult or uncomfortable position with no attractive way out

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

という意味です。

にっちもさっちも行かない、とか、進退窮まって、という意味でも使われます。

Collins Cobuild Dictionary of Idiomsでは、

(being) in a difficult situation where you have to choose between two equally unpleasant courses of action

と解説しており、選択肢のどちらを取っても望ましい結果とならないようなジレンマ的状況、究極の選択を迫られるような状況を示唆するものでもあります。

なお、以前取り上げましたが、類似の表現に、

between the devil and the deep blue sea

というものがあります。