Related Terms
Several idioms describe dilemmas:
- "Between Scylla and Charybdis"
- "Lesser of two evils"
- "Between a rock and a hard place", since both objects or metaphorical choices are rough.
- "Between the devil and the deep blue sea"
A dilemma with more than two forks is sometimes called a trilemma (3), tetralemma (4), or polylemma.
The incorrect spelling dilemna is often seen in common usage. It appears to have been taught in many areas of the United States and all over the world, including (but not limited to) France, England, Jamaica and Australia. There is no prima facie reason for this substitution error and there is no erroneous parallel to be found with the word lemma, from which dilemma derives.
Read more about this topic: Dilemma
Famous quotes containing the words related and/or terms:
“There is nothing but is related to us, nothing that does not interest us,—kingdom, college, tree, horse, or iron show,—the roots of all things are in man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It is surely a matter of common observation that a man who knows no one thing intimately has no views worth hearing on things in general. The farmer philosophizes in terms of crops, soils, markets, and implements, the mechanic generalizes his experiences of wood and iron, the seaman reaches similar conclusions by his own special road; and if the scholar keeps pace with these it must be by an equally virile productivity.”
—Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929)