damned if one does and damned if one doesn't
English
Alternative forms
- you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Prepositional phrase
damned if one does and damned if one doesn't (not comparable)
- (idiomatic) A situation where either choice results in a negative outcome; dilemma.
- If John leaves for New York to follow his career, his father will disinherit him. He's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.
- Damned if I do and damned if I don't.
- Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Synonyms
- no-win situation
- catch-22
- inevitability
- between a rock and a hard place
- between Scylla and Charybdis
- between the devil and the deep sea
- pick your poison
- dilemma
Translations
dilemma with bad outcomes
|
|
See also
- Ginsberg's theorem