It means to be stuck between two equally horrible choices - as if you were in between Satan and the bottomless ocean, with nowhere else to go.
"Between the devil and the deep blue sea" is an idiom meaning a dilemma-to choose between two undesirable situations
The opposite of the idiom "between the devil and the deep blue sea" is "between a rock and a hard place." This phrase is used to describe a situation where someone is faced with two equally difficult choices.
This phrase means that someone is stuck between two equally challenging or undesirable situations, with no easy way out. They are faced with a difficult decision or dilemma with no good options available to them.
If you have a choice between going to school and taking an exam that you forgot to study for, or confessing to your parents that you're failing the class, then you're between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Simon and Simon - 1981 Caught Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 3-7 was released on: USA: 10 November 1983
I hatethis
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - 1995 is rated/received certificates of: Argentina:13 Finland:K-12 Finland:K-11 (new rating: 2001) France:U Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) Spain:13 Sweden:11
Nurses - 1991 The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 2-17 was released on: USA: 6 February 1993
Westside Medical - 1977 The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 1-8 was released on: USA: 14 July 1977
Seven Days - 1998 The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 2-10 was released on: USA: 5 January 2000
The cast of The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - 2014 includes: Jessica Biel as Penny Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Henry Mary Steenburgen as Julia
being caught between a rock and a hard place is one Between the devil and the deep blue sea
This question was answered by Dr. Richard Lederer, the author of the books "The Play of Words," "Crazy English," et al. In his book "The Play of Words, Section I - METAPHORS," included in "Seaworthy Metaphors," Dr. Lederer points out that in sailing parlance the word devil refers to a nautical term for the seam between two planks in the hull of a ship, on or below the water line. If this is truly the case then, as Dr. Lederer points out, "Anyone who had to caulk such a 'devil' was figuratively caught between a rock and a hard place, or between..." THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.