Question

Select the correct meaning of the underlined phrase or idiom.
Ram had to take another loan to repay his first loan. Otherwise, he had to go to jail. He found himself between the devil and the deep sea.

• A. lost in the deep ocean
• B. facing two challenges
• C. facing two equally bad alternatives
• D. confronting two opportunities

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

facing two equally bad alternatives

The devil is believed to be the Supreme evil spirit. In naval terms, the devil also refers to one of the seams in a ship which has to be kept watertight. In olden days, in case there was a gap in the devil resulting in a leak, a sailor used to climb to the edge of the deck and hoist himself precariously. If he slipped, he would fall down into the deep sea. Both the choices of plugging the devil or falling into the deep sea were dangerous and undesirable.

The idiom, 'between the devil and deep sea', therefore, means a dilemma i.e having to choose between two unpleasant/undesirable choices. In the given sentence, Ram found himself having to choose between two options (either take another loan to repay the first or go to jail), both of which were undesirable "Facing two equally bad alternatives means that the two choices available are equally unpleasant. Hence, option C is the correct answer.
Option A is incorrect because 'lost in the deep ocean' would literally mean drowning. This does not mean the same as the given idiom.
Option B is incorrect because the given idiom suggests a dilemma between two undesirable situations whereas facing two challenges doesn't necessarily mean that both are undesirable situations.

Option D: The word, "opportunity" means a chance/circumstance which makes it possible to do something. It has a positive connotation. However, the situations faced by Ram have a negative connotation. Hence, option D is incorrect.