Catch-22
See also: catch-22
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Coined by American author Joseph Heller in 1961 in his novel Catch-22, in which the main character feigns madness in order to avoid dangerous combat missions, but his desire to avoid them is taken to prove his sanity[1].
Noun
- (idiomatic) A difficult situation from which there is no escape because it involves mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.
- For us it’s been a real Catch-22: when we have the time to take a vacation, we don’t have enough money, and when we have enough money, we don’t have the time.
Synonyms
Translations
difficult situation
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See also
References
- ^ Joseph Heller (1961) Catch-22:
- There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to.
