Crosswords1 min ago
Catch 22
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What did we say before we said for example, "It's a Catch 22" situation" ?
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Phrases such as "It's a non-starter" covered much the same idea...ie that there was no prospect of finding a solution or getting around a difficulty.
In the book of that name, Catch 22 was the concept that the only way a pilot could get out of flying missions against the enemy was that he was mentally unfit. However, such a request would inevitably be dismissed, because he was clearly bright enough mentally to know that these missions put his life in danger, so he clearly wasn't mentally unfit!
In the book of that name, Catch 22 was the concept that the only way a pilot could get out of flying missions against the enemy was that he was mentally unfit. However, such a request would inevitably be dismissed, because he was clearly bright enough mentally to know that these missions put his life in danger, so he clearly wasn't mentally unfit!
I've no idea exactly how old non-starter is either, Khandro, but we have been tagging 'non' as a prefix to nouns since the 15th century, one of the earliest recorded being non-achievement. The word is commonly used in racing situations to refer to a horse which, for one reason or another, does not participate in the race it was entered for. Horse-racing has been with us for a heck of a long time, so that was my justification for imagining, at least, that it was older than Heller's novel.
Maybe not so passive for a potential gambler, Khandro, who might well say, "I put a score on Jiminy Cricket to win the 3.20 at Catterick today, but the bloody thing was a non-starter!" (Non-runner might also be used in these circumstances, of course.)
The punter, in other words, positively - not passively - desired something to happen but it didn't. I can't really see a great deal of difference between him and Yossarian, other than the latter's desire for it not< to happen.
But what the hey! I'll leave it at that.
The punter, in other words, positively - not passively - desired something to happen but it didn't. I can't really see a great deal of difference between him and Yossarian, other than the latter's desire for it not< to happen.
But what the hey! I'll leave it at that.