What does between a rock and a hard place mean?

Answer 1

Not much if you're stuck there! It's a simile meaning your basically stuck in a situation without a(n)(easy) way out or solution, or that multiple solutions will not work. From Homer's Epic The Odyssey, the difference between scylla and charybdis. ie either getting crushed by falling rock or sucked into a whirlpool.

"But once your crew has rowed you past the Sirens a choice of routes is yours. I cannot advise you which to take, or lead you through it all -- you must decide for yourself..."

It is therefor a Metaphor for being caught between two equally difficult choices.

Answer 2

It's not an idiom because you can figure out what it means. If you're between a hard rock and something else hard, then you're in a hard spot, right? You can't go forward or backward because either place is too hard. You're stuck in a situation where you can't see which way to go.

Answer 3

It's an idiom meaning that you are in a situation in which you must choose between two decisions, although both may yield unpleasant results.

Answer 4

basically when you have to choose between 2 things, but its a hard decision to make. most of the time it is put for 2 choices when each choice will give an unpleasant ending.