between a rock and a hard place经济拮据，处境艰难

【使用地区】：美国

【释义】：

A century ago if someone was badly in need of money，he or she was said to be between a rock and a hard place．The expression was probably born in Arizona during a financial panic in the early 1900s，but over the years its meaning changed and it came to mean being in any tight spot，having to make a hard decision．

一个世纪之前，此词组意为“某人经济拮据”。这一表达方式也许源自20世纪初经济萧条时期的亚利桑那州，后来意义逐渐变化。现在意为“处境艰难，不得不作出艰难的决定。”