A no-win dilemma or paradox, similar to damned if I do, damned if I don't. For example, You can't get a job without experience, but you can't get experience unless you have a job—it's Catch The term gained currency as the title of a war novel by Joseph Heller, who referred to an Air Force rule whereby a pilot continuing to fly combat missions without asking for relief is regarded as insane, but is considered sane enough to continue flying if he does make such a request.
New Word List Word List. Save This Word! We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms. Origin of Catch From a military regulation in a novel of the same name by U. Words nearby Catch cat-built , cat burglar , cat cafe , catcall , catch , Catch , catchall , catch-as-catch-can , catch at , catch a Tartar , catch basin.
What does Catch mean? Where does Catch come from? How is Catch used in real life? How to use Catch in a sentence They all immediately dashed out to their car to catch the bad guys. Music-Study in Germany Amy Fay. Squinty the Comical Pig Richard Barnum. Raw Gold Bertrand W. Listen to Our Podcast About catch Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox! Sign Up. Statistics for catch Look-up Popularity. Style: MLA.
Get Word of the Day daily email! Test Your Vocabulary. Test your vocabulary with our question quiz! Love words? Need even more definitions? Homophones, Homographs, and Homonyms The same, but different. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Nov. Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". It is a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape due to mutually conflicting or dependent conditions.
Heller coined the term in his book, which describes absurd bureaucratic constraints on soldiers in World War II. The only way he can be discharged is by claiming that the war has made him insane. Yossarian is caught in a paradoxical situation. 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.
Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch and let out a respectful whistle. The term is applied to various loopholes and quirks of the military system, always with the implication that rules are created and used against those lower in the hierarchy, who find themselves in paradoxical situations.
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