Catch 22...?

Question

What does the phrase "Catch 22" mean? Give an example.

Answer 1

Catch-22 also catch-22 n.

A situation in which a desired outcome or solution is impossible to attain because of a set of inherently illogical rules or conditions: “In the Catch-22 of a closed repertoire, only music that is already familiar is thought to deserve familiarity” (Joseph McLennan).
The rules or conditions that create such a situation.
A situation or predicament characterized by absurdity or senselessness.
A contradictory or self-defeating course of action: “The Catch-22 of his administration was that every grandiose improvement scheme began with community dismemberment” (Village Voice).
A tricky or disadvantageous condition; a catch: “Of course, there is a Catch-22 with Form 4868—you are supposed to include a check if you owe any additional tax, otherwise you face some penalties” (New York).
[After Catch-22, a novel by Joseph Heller (1923–1999), American writer.]

Catch 22, refers to an enigma that cannot be solved. In the Movie Catch 22, a military man who had see too much of the war, tried to prove he was crazy, so he could get out of military service, but in the military service if he was really crazy, he wouldn't care to leave the service; which would make him more crazy; much like Cpl. klinger on MASH.

Answer 2

A paradoxical situation that has no happy ending. A popular movie with Alan Arkin in 1970, Catch-22 came from Joseph Heller's 1961 comical, yet gruesome, best-selling book about pilots in a fictitious World War II setting. The paradox was that no sane pilot would be crazy enough to want to continue flying dangerous missions. The only way a pilot would be grounded is if he were truly crazy, but if he asked to be grounded, he was then considered sane and would not be grounded.

A Catch-22 with software would be trying to install a new version of the OS that conflicts with the current display driver. Although a new version of the display driver may be available for the new version of the OS, the current display driver does not allow the new OS to be installed. Sometimes, a Catch-22 is used synonymously with a "chicken-egg" dilemma (which comes first?), but it is more accurately a conundrum without a winning solution.

Answer 3

The phrase Catch 22 comes from the Joseph Heller novel of the same name. In the book the Catch 22 was as follows: All bomber pilots had to fly a certain number of missions. The only way to get out of flying a mission was if you were crazy. But by claiming you were crazy, you proved you were sane (b/c it takes a sane person to realize they don't want to risk their life on a mission). And if you really were crazy, you would fly the missions anyway. Therefore there really was no way to avoid flying your missions. A catch 22 is a requirement that cannot be logically fulfilled.

Answer 4

Catch-22 is a 1961 novel by American novelist Joseph Heller. It was adapted into a feature film of the same name in 1970.

The novel follows Captain John Yossarian, a fictional World War II US Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier, and a large number of other characters during World War II. Most events in the book occur while the airmen of the Fighting 256th (or "two to the fighting eighth power") squadron are based on the island of Pianosa, west of Italy. Many events in the book are described repeatedly, from differing points of view, so that the reader learns more about the event with each iteration. The pacing of Catch-22 is frenetic, its tenor is intellectual, and its humor is largely absurd, but with grisly moments of realism interspersed.

In the December 1987 issue of Playboy magazine, a chapter that had been cut from the novel was published under the title "Yossarian Survives." It featured a physical-education instructor named Rogoff.