Have a bear by the tail 骑虎难下

Bear是大家熟悉的动物。它粗大笨重而且性情暴烈。在荒山野林碰上大熊你一定会赶快躲得远远的，如果有人斗胆去揪大熊尾巴，那真不亚于拉老虎胡子；简直就是把自己送给大熊去抓咬。那时候真是抓也不是，放也不是。所以 have a bear by the tail生动形象地描绘出一种尴尬棘手、骑虎难下的局面。

我们接下来要给大家来看个例子。说话的人在解释他一个朋友怎样好心给姐妹俩劝架，结果反而惹火烧身，给自己招来了麻烦。

All Joe tried to do was end the fight between his two sisters， but he ended up having a bear by the tail. The whole family got mad at him and now nobody will even speak to him.

Joe只不过想劝说他的两姐妹别再争吵了，但是到头来他自己反倒卷入了纠纷，成了众矢之的。全家人都生他的气，甚至谁都不理睬他。

从这个例子可见have a bear by the tail和中国成语“骑虎难下”意思相仿，解释“不明智地陷入困境”。