Meaning
A rule, situation, or dilemma in which the only solution is blocked by a circumstance inherent in the problem itself, so that every available move defeats its own purpose; a no-win bind. Informal in register and usually lowercased, it is applied to any absurd bureaucratic or logical trap, generalized well beyond the military setting of the source novel. Informal and usually lowercased; carries a cynical, resigned tone about rules and bureaucracy. Regional use: General English (American coinage, from Joseph Heller's 1961 novel).
Origin
Joseph Heller created the phrase for his satirical war novel. Its opening chapter appeared in the 1955 anthology New World Writing under the title Catch-18, but when Simon and Schuster prepared the book the number was changed to avoid confusion with Leon Uris's recent novel Mila 18; editor Robert Gottlieb is credited with settling on 22, after alternatives such as 11 (blocked by the film Ocean's Eleven) and 17 (blocked by Stalag 17) were rejected. In the novel, published October 10, 1961, a pilot can be grounded from dangerous missions only if he is insane, but asking to be grounded proves sanity, so he must keep flying. The phrase spread through the book's enormous paperback sales and Vietnam-era campus readership and was fixed in everyday language after the 1970 film adaptation.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- catch twenty-two
- catch-22 situation
- catch-22s
Usage Examples
- You need experience to get the job, but you need the job to get experience; it is a classic catch-22.
- The permit office created a catch-22: they would not release the records without a case number, and the case number could only be issued with the records.
- She found herself in a catch-22 where applying for the waiver automatically cancelled her eligibility for it.