on the horns of a dilemma

English

WOTD – 4 February 2023

Etymology

From horn (“alternative in an argument”), from Latin argūmentum cornūtum (“argument with alternatives”, literally “horned argument”),[1] a reference to an alternative that one can metaphorically get caught on or injured by.[2]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɒn‿ðə ˈhɔːnz‿əv‿ə daɪˈlɛmə/, /-dɪˈlɛmə/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɑn‿ðə ˈhɔɹnz‿əv‿ə daɪˈlɛmə/, /-dɪˈlɛmə/
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛmə
Hyphenation: on the horns of a di‧lem‧ma

Prepositional phrase

on the horns of a dilemma

(idiomatic) Facing a choice between two equally undesirable alternatives.
Synonyms: between a rock and a hard place, between Scylla and Charybdis, damned if one does and damned if one doesn't; see also Thesaurus:dilemma
- 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 1000842716, page 319:
  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; […]
- 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 518652220, pages 25–26:
  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.
- 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 39987404, page 27, column 2:
  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.
- 1902, Basil Thomson, “Westward Ho!”, in Savage Island: An Account of a Sojourn in Niué and Tonga, London: John Murray, […], OCLC 6120538, pages 147–148:
  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.
- 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 314955488, pages 43–44:
  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.

Translations

Finnish: valita ruton ja koleran väliltä (fi) (verb)
Spanish: entre la espada y la pared (es) (literally “between the sword and the wall”)

References

See, for example, Erasmus (10 February 1549 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548)), “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Ghospell of S. Luke”, in , Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., The First Tome or Volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testamente, London: […] Edwarde Whitchurche, OCLC 752596427, folio clviij, recto:
The peruerſe conſeyence of the Jevves had at once a ſmelle and felying of thys forked queſtyon: (vvhiche the ſophiſters call an horned queſtion, becauſe that to vvhether of both partyes a bodye ſhall make a direct aunſvvere, he ſhall renne on the ſharpe poyncte of the horne, that is to ſaye, ſhall incurre inconuenyence and bee taken in hys aunſvvere.)
“horn, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2022.