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hereinbeijing · Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 101

How would you explain the meaning of "in dire straits" ?

Cleopatra · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 2:55 pm Post subject:

Up s*** creek.

johnslat · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:10 pm Post subject:

Dear hereinbejing,
Or, for those more classically inclined: "between Scylla and Charybdis."

In Greek mythology, Kharybdis or Charybdis (IPA: /kəˈrɪbdɨs/; in Greek, Χάρυβδις) was a sea monster, once a beautiful naiad and the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She takes form as a huge bladder of a creature whose face was all mouth and whose arms and legs were flippers and swallows huge amounts of water three times a day before belching them back out again, creating whirlpools. Charybdis was very loyal to her father in his endless feud with Zeus, it was she who rode the hungry tides after Poseidon had stirred up a storm, and led them onto the beaches, gobbling up whole villages, submerging fields, drowning forests, claiming them for the sea. She won so much land for her father's kingdom that Zeus became enraged and changed her into a monster.
The myth has Charybdis lying on one side of a blue, narrow channel of water. On the other side of the strait was Scylla, another sea-monster. The two sides of the strait are within an arrow's range of each other, so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis will pass too close to Scylla and vice versa. The phrase "between Scylla and Charybdis" has come to mean being in a state where one is between two dangers and moving away from one will cause you to be in danger of the other. "Between Scylla and Charybdis" is the origin of the phrase "between the rock and the whirlpool" (the rock upon which Scylla dwelt and the whirlpool of Charybdis) and may also be the genesis of the phrase "between a rock and a hard place".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charybdis

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2008 3:15 pm Post subject:

You are all too correct, John. It is the modern-day Strait of Messina!

NCTBA

rudolph · Joined: 23 Dec 2008 Posts: 3 Location: Taif, SA

If you mean vernacular meaning: a person in trouble or in a very difficult situation, i.e., have very little money and can't pay the bills.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

in a difficult situation

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:11 am Post subject:

George Dubya as a "Jeopardy" contestant???

NCTBA

Bebsi · Joined: 07 Feb 2005 Posts: 958

Ask Mark Knopfler.

Laughing

sheikh radlinrol · Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1222 Location: Spain

In Saudi Arabia, being in ''dire straits'' is when you're down to the last two litres of home-made wine and your next batch won't be ready for 3 weeks. Then you find that the guy on the compound who produces it to sell is out of stock.

Never Ceased To Be Amazed · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:38 pm Post subject:

NCTBA

15yearsinQ8 · Joined: 17 Oct 2006 Posts: 462 Location: kuwait

up S#&%'s creek without a paddle
or
in a pickle
or
in a S#%& sandwich
or
in deep doodoo
in deep S@&%
in deep kimshee

better to be in a goat rope
or
a cluster
or
clusterF@&%
than in dire straits

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2009 8:59 am Post subject:

I think the best explanation for students would be to use the literal explanation of the words. "Dire" means difficult, and "straits" is a narrow passage of water. Thus, it means something like "sailing in very difficult waters".

Where I work, this phrase would probably refer to an employee having a serious family emergency back home, and not being able to travel because your visa/iqama/passport is being held by the administration.

Yes, I'm getting more bitter day by day. Crying or Very sad