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- DictionaryCatch-22/kætʃtwentiˈtuː/
noun
- 1. a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions: "a catch-22 situation"
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What does Catch-22 mean?
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Who coined the phrase 'Catch-22'?
How did Catch-22 get its name?
Catch-22 is a term for an irrational, circular, and impossible situation, often used to describe a paradox or a hidden difficulty. It originated from a novel by Joseph Heller about a World War II pilot who could not escape combat duty because he was sane and insane at the same time.
Catch-22 is an organizational assumption, an unwritten law of informal power that exempts the organization from responsibility and accountability, and puts the individual in the absurd position of being excepted for the convenience or unknown purposes of the organization.
a frustrating situation in which one is trapped by contradictory regulations or conditions. any illogical or paradoxical problem or situation; dilemma. a condition, regulation, etc., preventing the resolution of a problem or situation; catch. catch-22.
Catch-22 is a phrase that describes an impossible situation where you are prevented from doing one thing until you have done another thing that you cannot do until you have done the first thing. Learn more about the origin, usage and translations of catch-22 from Cambridge Dictionary.
Concept. A "Catch-22" is "a problem for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem or by a rule." [14] For example, losing something is typically a conventional problem; to solve it, one looks for the lost item until one finds it.
- Joseph Heller
- 1961
Catch 22 is a paradox in which the attempt to escape makes escape impossible. It comes from Joseph Heller's novel about the US Air Force in World War II, where it was used to trap pilots who wanted to avoid dangerous missions.
May 18, 2019 · Catch-22 is a paradoxical situation in which an individual has no escape. Learn how the phrase was coined by Joseph Heller in his novel, and see how it is used in literature and sentences.
