dilemma

英 [dɪ'lemə; daɪ-] 美[dɪˈlemə]

复数: dilemmas;

分析：di——“低”的拼音；le——“了”的拼音；m——“马”的拼音首字母；
ma——“麻”的拼音。
记忆：如果低估了困境，马上就会遇到麻烦。
1. di- "two" + lemma (谐音“勒马”) => 两边都得被迫把马勒住，因为两边儿都没法通过了，所以就“进退两难、进退维谷”了。

dilemma 两难，窘境

di-, 二。-lemma, 拿，承载，词源同lemma, epilepsy.即两边考虑的，引申词义窘境，两难。

dilemma: dilemma: [16] Dilemma was originally a technical term in rhetoric, denoting a form of argument in which one’s opponent is faced with a choice of two unfavourable alternatives. It comes via Latin dilemma from Greek dilēmma, a compound formed from di- ‘two’ and lēmma ‘proposition, premise’. (Lēmma itself, which English acquired in the 16th century, came ultimately from *lab-, the base of Greek lambánein ‘talk’.) The ‘looser’ general sense ‘choice between unpleasant alternatives’ developed in the late 16th century.
dilemma (n.): 1520s, from Late Latin dilemma, from Greek dilemma "double proposition," a technical term in rhetoric, from di- "two" + lemma "premise, anything received or taken," from root of lambanein "to take" (see analemma). It should be used only of situations where someone is forced to choose between two alternatives, both unfavorable to him. But even logicians disagree on whether certain situations are dilemmas or mere syllogisms.

1. Public policy on the family presents liberals with a dilemma.: 有关家庭的公共政策使自由主义者陷入了进退两难的境地。