Learn English – Term to describe when one event cannot occur without the other

expressionsmeaning-in-contextphrases

So my wife and I were just having a conversation concerning a situation at her work, and I was trying to think of a term to describe the GM's approach but it's eluding me. Here's the context:

Background: Newly opened hotel restaurant, all hands on deck including my wife (who was hired as a Sales Manager, not a server/buslady), situation has devolved into chaos

Conversation: I asked my wife who was responsible for hiring staff for the new restaurant, and she said ultimately it would be up to her boss, but her boss was given explicit instruction by the GM NOT to hire any additional restaurant staff, and simply make do with the existing skeleton crew.

I asked why the GM wouldn't hire any additional staff, and she said –

"Because [NAME] doesn't want to hire any additional staff until our numbers are up (sales numbers), but we can't get our sales numbers up until we hire additional restaurant staff to get us off the floor"

The term I'm trying to think of would describe the situation in which A cannot exist without B yet B cannot exist without A ad infinitum. Almost like an infinite feedback loop? But that doesn't seem to be an appropriate term just given this has nothing to do with computers/software.

If this isn't clear just let me know. Thanks for any and all help!

Best Answer

Catch-22

To use it in a sentence, "It's a catch-22" or "It's a catch-22 situation"

From Google's definition of Catch-22:

a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions. "a catch-22 situation"


(Paraphrased very slightly) from Wikipedia's Catch-22 (logic):

A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules.

An example would be:

It's a catch-22 situation: To apply for a job, you need to have a few years of experience. But in order to gain experience, you need to get a job first.


Origin is from the book, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
From the Wikipedia page for Catch-22 (book):

The phrase "Catch-22" has since entered the English language, referring to a type of unsolvable logic puzzle sometimes called a double bind.


From the Wikipedia page for Double Bind:

A double bind is an emotionally distressing dilemma in communication in which an individual (or group) receives two or more conflicting messages, and one message negates the other. This creates a situation in which a successful response to one message results in a failed response to the other (and vice versa), so that the person will automatically be wrong regardless of response. The double bind occurs when the person cannot confront the inherent dilemma, and therefore can neither resolve it nor opt out of the situation.

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