Scyl·la and Cha·ryb·dis /ˌsɪlə ənd kəˈrɪbdɪs/ between Scylla and Charybdis in a situation where you have to choose between two possible actions, but both are dangerous or unpleasant. The phrase comes from the ancient Greek stories of Scylla, a monster, and Charybdis, a whirlpool (=water that spins around and pulls things down into it) that killed sailors in the sea between Italy and Sicily. People sometimes also use the phrase ‘between a rock and a hard place’ to mean the same thing.