on the horns of a dilemma
Language: English
Part of speech: prep_phrase
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɒn‿ðə ˈhɔːnz‿əv‿ə daɪˈlɛmə/
ipa: /-dɪˈlɛmə/
ipa: /ɑn‿ðə ˈhɔɹnz‿əv‿ə daɪˈlɛmə/
rhymes: -ɛmə
Etymology: From horn (“alternative in an argument”), from Latin argūmentum cornūtum (“argument with alternatives”, literally “horned argument”), a reference to an alternative that one can metaphorically get caught on or injured by.
Senses: examples: text: To admit of the abſolute foreknovvledge of God, and yet to deny his predeſtination, even in its fulleſt extent, is a palpable abſurdity. The diſputant ſticks faſt on the horns of a dilemma, from vvhich he never can be diſengaged, vvithout the extraction of one. And yet to deny either, involves an equal abſurdity, and leaves the poor logician in the ſame predicament; […]
ref: 1779 May, “K.” [pseudonym], “The Church of England Vindicated: or A Defence of the Visible Church of Christ, as Established by the Legislative Authority of this Realm: In Answer to All Objections which have been Offered by Dissidents of Every Denomination. With a Prefatory Address to the Pious and Learned Prelates of Great Britain and Ireland. 8vo. 6s. Thorn, Exeter; Wallis, London. [book review]”, in William Kenrick, William Shakespeare Kenrick, et al., editors, The London Review of English and Foreign Literature, volume IX, London: […] T[homas] Evans, […], →OCLC, page 319:
text: They vvere ſtuck on the horns of a dilemma, that ſorely pricked them; unable to find a better ſituation, and unreſolved to quit their preſent one.
ref: 1784, “An Advocate for Justice” [pseudonym], Oppression Unmasked: Being a Narrative of the Proceedings in a Case between a Great Corporation, and a Little Fishmonger. […], Dublin: [s.n.], →OCLC, pages 25–26:
text: We are on the horns of a dilemma. If things go on in this manner and the rebellion is not suppressed, in a short time government won't have any copper and there is no knowing what may happen. If we get news of victory over the rebels, our doom is sealed, for it's my belief that every one of us will be put into the crucible and reduced to so much waste copper.
ref: 1875 July, G. C. Stent, “A Dream Concerning a Cash. (Translated from the Chinese.)”, in [Nicholas Belfield Dennys], editor, The China Review: Or, Notes and Queries on the Far East, volume IV, number 1, Hong Kong: “China Mail” Office, […], →OCLC, page 27, column 2:
text: He was busy organising opposition to Lord Ranfurly [Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly], when, in an unlucky moment for his cause, he was called up to sign the deed of cession as the representative of Avatele. Thus was he impaled on the horns of a dilemma. If he refused, another would have gone down to posterity as a greater than he in his own village; if he accepted, he stultified his own words.
ref: 1902, Basil Thomson, “Westward Ho!”, in Savage Island: An Account of a Sojourn in Niué and Tonga, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, pages 147–148:
text: Ignatius [of Loyola] was on the horns of a dilemma. Should Francis [Borgia] remain in Spain, his fate was fixed. Should he escape to Rome, the Pope [Pope Julius III] would certainly make him a Cardinal.
ref: 1917, C[yril] C[harlie] Martindale, “The Duke of Gandia”, in Edmund Lester, editor, In God’s Army: II. Captains of Christ: St. Francis Borgia, St. John Francis Regis, St. Peter Claver (Stella Maris Series), London; Manchester: R. & T. Washbourne, […], →OCLC, pages 43–44:
synonyms: word: between a rock and a hard place
word: between Scylla and Charybdis
word: damned if one does and damned if one doesn't
word: between a rock and a hard place
word: between Scylla and Charybdis
word: between the devil and the deep blue sea
word: between the hammer and the anvil
word: between two fires
word: damned if one does and damned if one doesn't
word: doomed if you do
word: doomed if you don't
word: in a cleft stick
word: in bad bread
word: on the horns of a dilemma
glosses: Facing a choice between two equally undesirable alternatives.
wikipedia: Nicholas Udall