A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

between a rock and a hard place • between wind
and water
between a rock and a hard place —facing equally bad or un-
desirable alternatives: His client was between a rock and a
hard place — actually the state of New York and his landlord.
between wind and water —said of the most vulnerable part:
Mallinson must have guessed what was coming. Nevertheless,
it hit him between wind and water.
between dog and wolf • between hawk and
 buzzard
between dog and wolf —is used of the time of twilight: The
thought of dinner … drove out the eeriness of the twilight
glen. The hour between dog and wolf was passing.
between hawk and buzzard —
1
. facing equally bad or unde-
sirable alternatives: “We are between hawk and buzzard,” said
Livingston; “we puzzle ourselves between the warlike and the
commercial opposition.” 2. = between dog and wolf: It’s be-
tween hawk and buzzard when at long last Elias and me set
off home. I know Mama won’t be happy with us.
Note: 
Neither expression correlates in meaning with the phrase
– 47 –
between dog and wolf

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between hay and grass
—
1
. (of a season, etc.) neither one thing
nor the other: “It’s sort of between hay and grass with us, you
know,” he explained. “Walnuts all marketed and oranges not
ready for the pickers.” 2. (U.S. coll., of a young person) not a
boy (or a girl) and not yet a man (or a woman): The boy was
between hay and grass, but would make a man soon. For now,
though, he looked miserable and every bit a child.
between maid • go-between
between maid —(UK dated) a young girl servant who helps
in cooking and housework: She saved money for the voyage
by working as a “between maid” in the London home of a “ti-
tled lady.”
go-between —smb. acting as a messenger or intermediary
between two parties: Beginning in the seventies, he was a go-
between for Western arms manufacturers doing business with
Iraq.