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 undesirable 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 between 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 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.