Between the devil and the deep blue sea

Origin

“Between the devil and the deep blue sea” paints a vivid picture of inescapable peril, with its roots firmly planted in the maritime world of the 17th century. On wooden sailing ships, the 'devil' referred not to a supernatural entity, but to the "devil seam"—the longest, most difficult to access, and most vulnerable seam running near the waterline. When this seam needed urgent repairs at sea, a sailor was often lowered over the side, suspended in a boson's chair. Their precarious position placed them literally between the integrity of the ship's hull, a task as tricky as dealing with the devil, and the vast, unforgiving expanse of the open ocean below. This perilous real-world dilemma of patching a ship's critical point while suspended over a watery abyss gave birth to the enduring metaphor for choosing between two equally terrifying options.