Does anyone know where the allusion phrase "catch-22" originated and an example and what it means??
960487
The phrase Catch-22 came from the book of the same name by Joseph Heller.  It did not exist before then.  A catch-22 is basically a no-win situation.\n\nIf you need more info, you can plow through Wikipedia.\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22
793676
Sorry you've had such rubbish answers. \n\nI'm usually quite good at this sort of thing, but I'm afraid I can't find any info on the origins of this phrase.\n\nI hope someone more knowledgeable answers you soon!
89653
My dad use to say that sometimes when I was going out on a date.  "Going to watch the submarine races?" It would be nice to know the origin of that.  All I could think of was making out.
1114686
It's been years, but I've heard a different variation.  The one I heard (from my mother) included, "Had plenty" vs "You caught twenty?"  and "Ate sufficient" instead of "Dined sufficient."  It seems like there was a third miscommunication in the poem, but I can't remember what it was.\n\nDo these alternative phrases give you anything new to search with?\n\nI did find the site below, but it is a long story (copyright 2005), not an old poem.
781018
you didn't give us enough of the quote to know what it's about. What is the entire quotation and what is the context?
23392
This is what I found: "It sounds as if this expression for surviving or overcoming nearly insuperable obstacles ought to have a nautical origin, doesn’t it? But there’s no evidence to support that.\n\nIt appears in print around the beginning of the twentieth century. The first example I’ve found is from 1901, but there is a substantial set in the books and newspapers later in that decade, showing that it had by then become widely known. The first form that appears is hell and high water; the form you give, which is now standard, comes along several decades later, together with through hell and high water and variations.\n\nThe setting of many of the earliest examples strongly point to cattle ranching as the origin, in particular the driving of cattle to railheads in the mid West in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In 1939 Paul Wellman published a book with the title Trampling Herd: the Story of the Cattle Range in America in which he wrote: “ ‘In spite of hell and high water’ is a legacy of the cattle trail when the cowboys drove their horn-spiked masses of longhorns through high water at every river and continuous hell between.”\n\nAn article about an old-time cattleman that appeared in the Washington Post in November 1905 supports this: “He prospered in those palmy days until he became the largest cattle owner in the territory and felt able to take his regular blowout in St Louis, until 1884, when, between the alien land law, drought and rustlers, the “hell and high water of the cattlemen,” he ... walked out of the Kansas City stock yards a few hundred thousand dollars worse off and no cattle worth putting an iron on, much less pulling grass by hand to feed.”"
1060634
Probably no one knows for sure.  One theory I like is that "okay" derives from the Scottish "auch aye", meaning "ah yes". \n\nHere are a number of links that discuss possible origins.
250056
Yes, it is a reference to Erol Flynn.  Apparently, he was a pretty wild guy.  According to IMDB:\n\n"The phrase "In like Flynn," stems from his 1942 trial for statutory rape."
468707
I believe this is a quote of Holden Caufield from J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. In telling us his story he begins to miss everybody. In a sense he is saying nostalgia is self perpetuating or futile.
1072287
One possible origin for the phrase is an incident said to have taken place during the siege of the Alamo in 1836, when William Barret Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword and urged those willing to stay and defend the fort to step across it. Unfortunately, this heroic story seems to have been invented by a 19th century promoter long after the fall of the Alamo. But the myth itself probably greatly popularized the phrase, so it does count as an origin of sorts even if the incident itself was apocryphal. \n\nAnother possible origin dates back to the time of the Roman Empire. It seems that one of the Macedonian kings, a bit short of cash, decided to invade Egypt, then a Roman protectorate. His army was met at the border by a lone Roman senator named Popillius Laenas, who ordered the king to withdraw. The king began to stall for time, so Popillius Laenas drew a circle in the sand around the king and demanded that the king agree to withdraw his army before he stepped out of the circle. The king, apparently impressed by the senator's nerve (or, more likely, by the Roman Empire in general), withdrew. Incidentally, not only is this account verified by contemporary historians, but it also may be the only known instance of a line drawn in the sand actually stopping someone.
286750
This quote comes from Orwells book "1984". He wrote the book so I assume he is the source of the quote.
867150
Love is all about forgiving and forgetting, so I don't think the person who came up with this quote was very successful in his love life. In a way, I do agree with it if you love strong enough to KNOW that each other is sorry, but I'm a verbal person, so I always say I'm sorry when I am.
975173
it sounds more like a catch 22
26752
It's difficult to tell without the context, but I suspect that it's a reference to "keeping up with the Joneses".  Perhaps Benjamin is the name of someone in the context?
136858
Eric Partridge’s A Dictionary of Catch Phrases, as revised by Paul Beale\nAlso links I found on Google:\nhttp://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/\nhttp://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/meanings.htm\nhttp://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/\nhttp://members.tripod.com/~mhttp://www.brownielocks.com/wordorigins.html\nccurtain_2/genietips/tip2.html
219084
It's from a Three Stooges movie, "Gents Without Cents" made in 1944. Curly says \n"Niagra Falls" and Moe (who was under some sort of post-hypnotic suggestion? I don't \nremember) turns on him and launches into the speech. (I dunno. Seemed funny when I was \na kid.) See www.imdb.com for good sources of movie quotes, trivia, etc.\n\n: : This was also from an Abbott and Costello movie entitled "Lost in A Harem".\n: : Many of Bud and Lou's best-known routines were vaudeville and/or burlesque \nstandards. The "Niagara Falls" bit ("Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch...I \ntook my revenge.") was performed by many teams before becoming identified with Abbott \n& Costello.
1058993
Actually, the reference originally came from a song that was popular in 1956.  It was by the Jayhawks and called Stranded In The Jungle.  It managed to climb the Billboard charts to #18.\n\nThe story is about a guy who gets stranded in a jungle and all he wants to do is get back to his girl in the states.  He gets knocked out, wakes up in a big pot and smells something cooking then realizes he's about to be the main course for a tribe of cannibals.  The next line is "Great googly moogly let me out of here! " \n\nOf course the expression has been used in numerous other songs since but now you know the complete story goes back half a century.