What does Catch 22 mean ?

Question

What does Catch 22 mean ?

Answer 1

It means a situation where you are stuck either way.

It refers to a situation in a book of the same name.  The only way to get out of the Army is if you are crazy.  However if you want to get out of the army you must be sane.  So you're stuck either way.

Answer 2

"I can't fly. I'm crazy."

"Sorry, you're flying."

"But I'm crazy!"

"If you were crazy, you'd fly. You'd have to be crazy to fly."

"So...I'm NOT crazy if I don't want to fly."

"Right."

"But I DON'T WANT TO FLY!"

"Then you're not crazy. Up in the air with you."

"But I can't fly...I'm CRAZY!"

"No, you'd be crazy if you wanted to fly."

"WTF?"

Answer 3

A catch 22 is a form of situational irony.  It occurs when you are going to fail no matter what you do.

Your friend asks you "Do I look fat in these pants or these shorts?"  There is no way to answer that without telling her that she's fat.

You're hanging from a cliff by a cord.  You could be perfectly safe if you could reattach your parachute but the cord you need to reattach is the one that you're hanging by.

Just some ideas.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't (catch 22)