What does the saying between the devil and the deep blue sea mean?
phrase. If you say that you are between the devil and the deep blue sea, you mean that you are in a difficult situation where you have to choose between two equally unpleasant courses of action.
Where does the saying caught between the devil and the deep blue sea come from?
This expression has existed since at least the 1600s. This expression doesn’t have to do with the devil of the Bible but to a seam around a ship’s hull near the water. When a sailor attempted to caulk this seam in heavy seas, he was in serious danger of failing overboard and drowning.
Who said between the devil and the deep blue sea?
The first recorded citation of ‘the Devil and the deep sea’ in print is in Robert Monro’s His expedition with the worthy Scots regiment called Mac-keyes, 1637: “I, with my partie, did lie on our poste, as betwixt the devill and the deep sea.”
Is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea an idiom?
The phrase between the devil and the deep blue sea is an idiom referring to a dilemma, a choice between two undesirable situations.
How do you use the devil and the deep blue sea?
Meaning: between two equally difficult or unacceptable choices. Example: Trying to please both his boss and his wife puts him between the devil and the deep blue sea.
What is a devilish person?
You can describe someone as devilish if they’re nasty and cruel, although this adjective is also used for rascally or naughty people, like the devilish kids you babysit. A devilish punishment is cruel, but a devilish preschooler simply misbehaves in a playful way.
Whats the meaning of Speak of the devil?
Definition of speak/talk of the devil informal. —used in speech to say that someone one has been talking about has unexpectedly appeared “Well, speak of the devil! We were just talking about you!”
Which kind of conflict is often called caught between the devil and the deep blue sea?
caught in a dilemma; trapped between two equally dangerous alternatives.
What is the meaning of flogging a dead horse?
1 : to keep talking about a subject that has already been discussed or decided I don’t mean to flog a dead horse, but I still don’t understand what happened. 2 : to waste time and effort trying to do something that is impossible Is it just flogging a dead horse to ask for another recount of the votes?
What is the meaning of Deep Blue?
deep blue (countable and uncountable, plural deep blues) An intense, relative dark blue.