between two stools

Meanings

1. Not fitting neatly into either of two categories or positions.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see between, two, stool.

Etymology

From an old proverb, "Between two stools, one falls to the ground", which dates from 1390. This, in turn, is most likely a translation of the medieval Latin proverb labitur enitens sellis herere duabus ("he falls trying to sit on two seats").