between a rock and a hard place

puun ja kuoren välissä between wood and bark, kahden tulen välissä puhekieltä To be bankrupt.
puhekieltä To be in a difficult and inescapable position.
puhekieltä Having the choice between two unpleasant or distasteful options; in a predicament or quandary.
1970, w:David Sim|David Sim, "Tangent":

Husbands, it seems to me, are caught between the Rock of Feminism and the Hard Place of their own marriages (..)

If Washington Mutual needs to raise capital quickly, it will very likely find itself between a rock and a hard place, because credit markets have all but closed their doors to troubled banks.