A cleft stick.
cleft stick:
A stick with a split at one end, once used by runners to carry written messages.
To be in a cleft stick:
To be in a situation where it is very difficult to decide what to do, usually because both of your two choices of action would cause problems.
The Oxford English Dictionary's first example is dated 1782, in a letter from William Cowper: “We are squeezed to death, between the two sides of that sort of alternative which is commonly called a cleft stick.”
Mid Devon Agricultural Show 2024. Knightshayes Court, Tiverton, Devon, UK
A cleft stick.
cleft stick:
A stick with a split at one end, once used by runners to carry written messages.
To be in a cleft stick:
To be in a situation where it is very difficult to decide what to do, usually because both of your two choices of action would cause problems.
The Oxford English Dictionary's first example is dated 1782, in a letter from William Cowper: “We are squeezed to death, between the two sides of that sort of alternative which is commonly called a cleft stick.”
Mid Devon Agricultural Show 2024. Knightshayes Court, Tiverton, Devon, UK