2020-12-03
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด P – Predicament & dilemma
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Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง Predicament = ‘pri-DIK-uh-muhnt’ or ‘PRED-i-kuh-muhnt” (Philosophical use)
ออกเสียง dilemma = ‘dih-LEM-uh’
Dictionary.com
HISTORICAL USAGE OF DILEMMA
The word dilemma combines di-,
a prefix meaning "two," with lemma, meaning "a proposition, theme, or subject.
" Our world is filled with propositions, themes, and subjects
—matters about which we have to make a variety of decisions as we move through life.
If we are forced to make a choice between two courses of action,
or between doing something and not doing it,
and if neither choice is a good one,
we are in a dilemma in its primary sense
—faced with a double bind,
caught between Scylla and Charybdis,
trapped between a rock and a hard place,
and truly on the horns of a dilemma.
As we can see, the sense of dilemma
that deals exclusively with two unpleasant alternatives is powerful enough
to have engendered a good deal of descriptive language over the years.
But in today’s complex environment,
if people tell you they are in a dilemma,
you cannot be sure that their problem is restricted to two choices.
They may be facing a situation of much greater complexity.
While the first meaning is still the most common,
the broadening of dilemma to include this more general sense
of "any difficult or perplexingsituation or problem,"
is an example of normal language growth.
The first meaning of dilemma, involvingtwo choices, remains alive and well.
But this broader meaning is not onlycommon and acceptable,
it is found in multiple examples of educated writing.
Collins English Dictionary
dilemmatic, dilˈemmic adj
Usage: The use of dilemma to refer to a problem
that seems incapable of a solution is considered by some people to be incorrect
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
dil′em·mat′ic (dĭl′ə-măt′ĭk) adj.
Usage Note:
In its traditional use,
dilemma refers to a situation in which a choice must be made
between alternative courses of action or argument.
The word is also used more loosely to mean "problem" or "predicament"
without implying that a choice must be made.
This usage has been criticized by language critics, and the Usage Panel still supports this view, but this support has been eroding over time. In our 1999 survey, 58 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the sentence
Historically, race has been the great dilemma of democracy.
This is a significant decrease from the 74 percent that rejected a similar sentence in 1988.
It is sometimes claimed that
because the di- in dilemma comes from a Greek prefix meaning "two,"
the word should be used only when exactly two choicesare involved.
In 2005, some 58 percent of the Panel reported that they followed this restriction in their own writing.
The remaining 42 percent said that the word could acceptably be used for more than two choices.
It seems unlikely that writers will be taken to task for ignoring the two-choice limit.
Dictionary.com
SYNONYM STUDY FOR PREDICAMENT
Predicament, dilemma, plight, quandary
refer to unpleasant or puzzling situations.
Predicament and plight stress more the unpleasant nature, quandary and dilemma
the puzzling nature of the situation.
Predicament and plight are sometimes interchangeable;
plight, however, though originally meaning peril or danger,
is seldom used today except laughingly:
When his suit wasn't ready at the cleaners, he was in a terrible plight.
Predicament, though likewise capable of being used lightly,
may also refer to a really crucial situation:
Stranded in a strange city without money, he was in a predicament.
Dilemma, in popular use, meansa position of doubt or perplexity
in which one is faced by two equally undesirable alternatives:
the dilemma of a hostess who must choose between offending her anti-drinking guests or disappointing those who expected cocktails.
Quandary is the state of mental perplexity of one faced with a difficult situation:
There seemed to be no way out of the quandary.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language
dil′em·mat′ic (dĭl′ə-măt′ĭk) adj.
Usage Note:
In its traditional use,
dilemma refers to a situation in which a choice must be made
between alternative courses of action or argument.
The word is also used more loosely to mean "problem" or "predicament"
without implying that a choice must be made.
This usage has been criticized by language critics, and the Usage Panel still supports this view, but this support has been eroding over time. In our 1999 survey, 58 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the sentence Historically, race has been the great dilemma of democracy. This is a significant decrease from the 74 percent that rejected a similar sentence in 1988. · It is sometimes claimed that because the di- in dilemma comes from a Greek prefix meaning "two," the word should be used only when exactly two choices are involved. In 2005, some 58 percent of the Panel reported that they followed this restriction in their own writing. The remaining 42 percent said that the word could acceptably be used for more than two choices. It seems unlikely that writers will be taken to task for ignoring the two-choice limit.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage of Dilemma
Although some commentators insist that dilemma
be restricted to instances in which the alternatives
to be chosen are equally unsatisfactory, their concern is misplaced;
the unsatisfactoriness of the options is usually a matter of
how the author presents them.
What is distressing or painful about a dilemma is having to make a choice
one does not want to make.
The use of such adjectives as terrible, painful, and irreconcilable
suggests that dilemma is losing some of its unpleasant force.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Words at Play
What's a Dilemma?
Use This Incorrectly, and the Grammar Police Will Be after You
Writers face a dilemma these days:
use the word dilemma to refer to something that is problematic,
and they will be called out by grammarians for misusing dilemma.
Commentators claim that dilemma can't be used to refer to
something that is merely problematic:
that the proper use of the word
is to refer to a choice between two equally unsatisfactory options.
Dilemma came into English as a term used in rhetoric to
refer to an argument in which an opponent is given two options to choose from,
with both of those options being detrimental tothe opponent.
Very soon after that, it came to refer to any choice
that offered two equally unsuitable or unattainable things
—the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea, or the rock and the hard place.
Soon after this second meaning appeared,
dilemma's use broadened again to refer to the state of mind
marked by someone facing a dilemma:
a sense of uncertainty and doubt.
Shakespeare used this sense in The Merry Wives of Windsor:
"In perplexity, and doubtful dilemma."
That's where things start getting problematicfor dilemma.
A person who is afflicted with doubt and uncertainty
over what to do might not be faced withthe classical dilemma
(a choice between two equally unsuitable or unattainable options),
but just any difficult situation.
Additionally, the suitability or attainability of the options presented
is primarily in the mind of the person faced withthe dilemma.
Take a look at this early example:
He is reduced to this doleful Dilemma; either voluntarily, by resigning, to depose himself; or violently ... to be deposed by others.
—Thomas Fuller, The church-history of Britain from the Birth of Jesus Christ, untill the year M.DC.XLVIII, 1655
Fuller has worded his example in such a way that
it's clear that one of these options, while not great,
is still more suitable that the other:
resign and stay alive, or be deposed and get killed.
In most choices between life and death,
life is preferred, and so this isn't the"correct" use of dilemma.
The word has broadened in use since the 1700s to refer to a problem,
and not necessarily a problem that involves a choice between two options.
Take, for example, this excerpt found at our entry for dilemma:
What's a pampered 20-something to do when her rich fiancé goes on a business trip and comes back married to someone else? That's the dilemma facing Elle Medina in Nichols's delightfully silly, vivacious debut. —Publishers Weekly, 28 June 2004
So if your dilemma is whether to use the word or not,
you may just find yourself faced with an easy choice after all.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
What Counts as a 'Dilemma'?
Does it have to be between two things?
What to Know
Dilemma has been used as a general synonym for problem or predicament
since the early 20th century, despite some style guides insisting
it must refer to a difficult choice between two options.
What is a dilemma? Is it simply a problem one has
(as in ‘we are facing the dilemma of dealing with the angry prescriptivists’)?
Or must it be a choice between disagreeable alternatives
(as in ‘we are facing the dilemma of dealing with the angry prescriptivists or the drunken linguists’)?
Many current style and usage guides remain firmly of the opinion
that a dilemma is only described by the latter of the preceding options.
Dilemma does not mean simply a problem;
it means a choice between disagreeable alternatives. — The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage, 2015
Despite the assurances of The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage,
our records indicate that dilemma is quite often used in a sense
that we define as “a difficult or persistent problem.”
Birdsall has done extensive research — this is the writer’s dilemma, to have unearthed so much great material, you can’t bear to leave any of it on the cutting-room floor.…— Ligaya Mishan, The New York Times, 9 Oct. 2020
Hovering over the postponement or cancellation is a larger dilemma facing museums: how to account for growing demands for equity and representation on the gallery walls when the Covid crisis has shrunk budgets substantially. —Julia Jacobs and Jason Farago, The New York Times, 25 Sept. 2020
The story crystallized a key dilemma of the 21st century. As authoritarian leaders oversee economic success, the importance of civil liberties — ensuring freedom from arbitrary punishment and harassment — may dwindle. — Jochen Bittner, The New York Times, 22 Sept. 2020
Broad Use of 'Dilemma'
When dilemma first came into use in English, in the early 16th century,
it was as a term of rhetoric,
meaning “an argument presenting two or more equally conclusive alternatives against an opponent.”
By the end of the 16th century the word had begun to broaden, with meanings
such as “a usually undesirable or unpleasant choice”
or “a situation involving such a choice.”
Dilemma, is a kinde of argument or reasoning, which euery way conuinceth him vnto whome it is spoken. — Ludwig Lavater, Of ghostes and spirites walking by nyght and of strange noyses, 1572
Heere is a dilemma. Eyther put no holinesse therein and so followe no choyce of order: or else put holinesse therein, & therefore according vnto the premises you are iustly to be condemned. — Edmund Campion, The great bragge and challenge of M. Champion, 1580
We begin to see dilemma being used in an even more broadened fashion,
with the simple meaning of “a problem involving a difficult choice,” in the 18th century.
Evidence of this is found in authors modifying dilemma with positive terms,
such as happy and pleasant.
Mr. Walsingham being informed of my removal, the next morning he favoured me with a visit,—when I informed him concerning the pleasant dilemma of the preceding day, and the emancipation of Miss Laurence, who I presented to him. — Ann Sheldon, Authentic and interesting memoirs of Miss Ann Sheldon, 1787
The great library and collection of natural curiosities which belong to the latter, chiefly engrossed his attention—afforded him utility and entertainment—but at the same time involved him in a pleasant dilemma. — Dietrich Heinrich Stoever, The life of Sir Charles Linnæus, 1794
One great advantage arising from the multitude of these courts is, that their decisions are for the most part diametrically opposite to each others the mind is by this means kept in a most happy dilemma, and remains in that salutary state of doubt…. — The Analectic Magazine (Philadelphia, PA), Jul. 1813
People have been complaining about the useof dilemma
as a synonym of problem or predicament since the 1920s.
Despite this century-long stream of admonitions (or perhaps because of it)
the objurgated (ตำหนิ/ประณาม) meaning has become, since the second half of the 20th century, the most commonly used sense of the word.
Your use of the word in the sense of problem or predicament should not be a concern.
Picturesque Expressions: A Thematic Dictionary, 1st Edition.
Predicament ([N] สภาพกลืนไม่เข้าคายไม่ออก)
(See also: Related Articles
DANGER, DISADVANTAGE, INDEBTEDNESS,
PRECARIOUSNESS, RISK, VULNERABILITY.)
Example of Predicament terms.
between a rock and a hard place, means:
In a tight spot, in an uncomfortable position; trapped, cornered, pressured,
with no way out; with equally undesirablealternatives,
hence no true choice at all.
This relatively recent and seemingly prosaic phrase is
often used in reference to one’s financial plight;
hence it may be conceptually related to on the rocks (INDEBTEDNESS).
between hawk and buzzard, means:
To be caught in a precarious position between two undesirable alternatives;
to have a choice semantically, but actually no choice worth mentioning.
Since hawks and buzzards are both birds of prey,
to be literally between hawk and buzzard is a frightening and dangerous prospect.
The phrase is used figuratively although it is rarely heard.
There is, however, another meaning of between hawk and buzzard which is more current. See INDETERMINATENESS.
between Scylla and Charybdis means:
To be in an extremely vulnerableposition between two powerful and dangerous alternatives, either of which is difficult to avoid without encountering the other.
This expression alludes to Homer’s Odyssey in which the hero Odysseus had to sail between Charybdis, a raging whirlpool on the Sicilian coast, and Scylla, a rock personified as a ravenous sea monster on the Italian side of the Straits of Messina. Odysseus tried to save his crew and ship, only to lose both and barely save his own life.
The following citations from Webster’s Third show how the phrase is currently used.
… the Scylla of incomprehensibility and the Charybdis of inaccuracy have both been avoided. (Times Literary Supplement) … between the Scylla of national parochialism and the Charybdis of complete exoticism. (Bernard Smith)
Between the devil and the deep blue sea, means:
In a perilous position; having two equally undesirable and dangerous alternatives.
Devil in this expression is literally a nautical term for a seam in the hull of ships, on or below the water line. The location of this seam made repair work hazardous, and any sailor ordered to make necessary repairs was put in a precarious position.
Today the phrase is used figuratively.
It is a popular saying, although few people are aware that devil does not refer to Satan.
catch-22 means:
A double-bind, a no-win situation; a seeming choice which is no choice;
the dilemma of the single alternative.
The term owes its origin and currency to Catch-22, a Joseph Heller novel of World War II popular in the 1960s.
It is said to have been a coinage by Robert Gottlieb, Heller’s editor.
As used therein, 22 is the number of the regulation
which contains the catch ‘hidden trick or snag.’
The regulation provided that an airman could request release from combat duty only on grounds of insanity; but to do so was itself considered proof of sanity, because no sane person would willingly risk his life in such insane fashion. So he had no out.
Hobson’s choice, means:
The dubious choice of taking what is offered or nothing at all;
the absence of any viable alternative, no real choice at all.
The reference is to Thomas or Tobias Hobson (1544–1631), the owner of a Cambridge livery stable, who gave his customers the questionable choice of taking the horse nearest the stable door or none at all, despite the good selection usually in his stable. This proverbial expression dates from at least 1660.
The Masters were left to Hobson’s choice, to choose Bennet and no body else.
(Anthony Wood, Athenae Oxonienses, 1691)
hold a wolf by the ears, means:
To be in a dangerous, precarious situation; to have no viable alternative;
to be in a jam or predicament.
The problematic nature of holding a wolf by the ears is well expressed in the following quotation from Francis Quarles’s The History of Samson (1631):
I have a Wolfe by th’eares; I dare be bold,
Neither with safety, to let go, nor hold:
What shall I do?
Originally an old Greek saying, this expression appeared in print by the mid-1500s.
in a jam, means:
In a difficult or awkward situation, in a fix, in a tight spot, in a bind.
This expression, of American origin, dates from the early part of this century.
It could have derived either from the verb jam ‘press, push, wedge, squeeze’ or the noun jam ‘blockage, bottleneck,’ as in log jam or traffic jam.
Henare would give his wholehearted sympathy and his last shilling to anyone in a bit of a jam. (R. D. Finlayson, Brown Man’s Burden, 1938)
in a pickle, means:
In a sorry plight, in quite a predicament;
in hot water, on the hot seat;
usually used with a modifier such as pretty, sad, fine, sweet.
The now colloquial expression was formerly used in more serious contexts:
In this pickle lyeth man by nature, that is, all we that be Adam’s children. (John Foxe, Sermons, 1585)
It has been conjectured that its origin lies in the Dutch in de pekel zitten ‘sitting in pickle juice,’ since such a position in the brinish, vinegary liquid would be unpleasant indeed.
in a scrape, means:
In trouble, in a fix, in a fine mess.
I was generally the leader of the boys and sometimes led them into scrapes. (Benjamin Franklin, Autobiography, 1771)
Several explanations have been offered as to the origin of this expression, which dates from the early 18th century.
One such explanation cites the holes that deer scrapein the ground during certain seasons, while another claims that in Scotland scrape was a term for a rabbit’s burrow (a dangerous trap for a golfer’s ball).
The OED, however, conjectures that the verb to scrape gave rise to the noun form scrape as used in this expression.
The most plausible explanation is the most obvious:
a person in danger, who survives with a mere scrape, is better off than one who is more seriously injured.
Hence, a scrape is a situation from which one escapes with his skin intact.
in chancery, means:
In a predicament; unable to extricate one-self from an embarrassing, awkward position.
In chancery is also a wrestling termdescribing the position of the head when held under the opponent’s left arm, thus the expression have one’s head in chancery.
This vulnerable position of the head has given rise to figurative use of the phrase referring to any predicament;
however, the wrestling term itself alludes to the absolute control of the Court of Chancery which was notorious for holding up suits and subjecting involved parties to great inconvenience.
When I can perform my mile in eight minutes or a little less, then I feel as if I had old Time’s head in chancery. (Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Autocrat of the Breakfast-table, 1858)
in deep water, means:
In trouble, in a difficult or dangerous situation, in over one’s head.
Deep waters ‘difficulties, troubles’ is found in Psalm 69.
in hot water, means:
In big trouble, in Dutch, in a scrape.
This expression, which dates from the first half of the 16th century,
refers to the obvious discomfort caused by scalding hot water.
This poor fellow was always getting into hot water. (Richard H. Dana, Jr., Two Years before the Mast, 1840)
in over one’s head, means:
Beyond one’s capability or resources;
usually in reference to one’s financial situation ‘in debt, in the red.’
The allusion is to a swimmer floundering about in water over his head, without the stamina or the ability to reach the shore.
in the cactus
An Australian term meaning in an uncomfortable or awkward situation.
in the soup
In trouble, in hot water, in a difficult situation.
After collecting a good deal of money, the scoundrels suddenly left town, leaving many persons in the soup. (The Lisbon [Dakota] Star, April, 1889)
Although several explanations have been proposed as to the origin and popularization of this U. S. expression, no substantial evidence has yet been found to support any of them, leaving the original meaning of the phrase as obscure as ever.
kettle of fish See DISORDER.
on the horns of a dilemma
Compelled to choose between two equally undesirable alternatives; in dire straits.
A person on the horns of a dilemma must select an alternative that will surely result in a negative outcome; he will be caught or impaled no matter his choice.
The word horn is used singularly to denote either of the undesirable alternatives.
This seems a smart dilemma at first … yet I think neither Horn is strong enough to push us off from our belief of the Existence of God. (Henry More, Divine Dialogue, 1668)
on the spot
In a dangerous situation;
in a life-threatening position; in a dire predicament; also, put on the spot.
This common phrase is derived from the pirates of old, who used the one-spotted ace of spades as an indication to a stool pigeon or poltroon that his days were numbered. In contemporary usage, the expression often refers to a situation in which one is forced into a self-incriminating position.
Some of the questions directed at him were obviously designed to put Stassen on the spot. (Chicago Sun-Times, March, 1948)
up the creek
In trouble, in a tight spot. This common U.S. euphemism (a truncated version of up shit creek without a paddle) first appeared in print in the 1930s. Most who use it are unaware of its vulgar origins.
“How ‘bout writing a composition for me, for English? I’ll be up the creek if I don’t get the goddam thing in by Monday.” (J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rue, 1951)
Variations are up Salt Creek and up Salt River, though some sources claim the latter to be a totally unrelated expression, giving conflicting, geographically erroneous, and equally implausible accounts for its reputed limited application to losing political candidates.
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression
Predicament & dilemma
Predicament means a difficult, perplexing, dangerous,
or unpleasant situation or condition:
“Having no room reservation put us into a predicament.”
A dilemma resembles a predicament
with emphasis upon the puzzling and perplexing elements present:
“Julia’s dilemma was how to get Jack out of the house before Tom arrived.”
“On the horns of a dilemma” is a trite expression, but it does accent the perplexity and puzzlement involved.
Related words are plight and quandary.
