英语俚语天天说 第52期:进退两难between a rock and hard place

 　　释义：

　　Between…and 在…之间；rock 石头；hard place 坚硬的地方；between a rock and a hard place: Being in a dilemma¹ where the only two available options are both unsatisfying or bad. 处于一个两难的境地中，其中的两种选择都很糟糕；

　　来源：

　　The origin of this phrase is believed to be rooted in the United States. 这个俚语来自美国；It is not entirely²

　　clear on where exactly this expression comes from, 具体的来源地不是很清楚；but some guess it may come from Arizona during financial panics that happened in the early 20th century. 但是有人猜测它来自于20世纪发生于亚利桑那州的金融恐慌；According to The Phrase Finder, the earliest known recording³ of the idiom can be found in the Dialect Notes V from the year 1921, where it reads: 据发现者说，关于这个习语最早的记录来自于1921年的Dialect Notes V，其中是这么写的："To be between a rock and a hard place, to be bankrupt⁴. Common in Arizona in recent panics; sporadic⁵ in California." 处于两难的境地，并且要破产，这在亚利桑那州很普遍，但在加利福尼亚偶尔发生；Judging by that quote, it looks as though the phrase originally meant to be bankrupt, where as today it means "facing a tough dilemma." 根据上面的引用判断，这个词组刚开始是用来表示破产，而现在被用来指代进退两难；

　　举例：

　　1. I'm between a rock and a hard place... on one hand I can go to the movies with my girlfriend, or I can choose to go to dinner with my friends.

　　选择去和朋友看电影，还是和女朋友去吃饭，我真的是进退两难啊 ；

　　2. I really want to quit my job, but I need the money, I feel caught between a rock and a hard place.

　　我好想辞职，可是又需要钱，我觉得左右为难。

1 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 bankrupt   

n.破产者；adj.破产的；vt.使...破产

参考例句：

• That factory has gone bankrupt.那家工厂倒了。
• The enemy's scheme went bankrupt.敌人的计谋破产了。

5 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。