例 3 In theory, at least,a favorable U. S. inflation trend vis-a-vis Europe and Japan should have strengthened America's trading position. But in fact, there are several catch-22s.
至少?gòu)睦碚撋险f(shuō),美國(guó)的通貨膨脹趨勢(shì)相對(duì)于歐洲和日本還是較輕的,這本應(yīng)加強(qiáng)美國(guó)的貿(mào)易地位。但實(shí)際上卻存在著好些無(wú)法解決的難題。
例4 He says his company is trapped in a catch-22:Not every Hispanic who applies for a job is illegal, and the company has been prosecuted in the past for being too stringent in its documentation requirements.
他說(shuō)他的公司陷入了一個(gè)自相矛盾的制度,怎么做都不對(duì):不是每個(gè)來(lái)找工作的拉美人都是非法移民,而且公司曾遭到起訴,說(shuō)它對(duì)求職者身份證明文件的要求過(guò)嚴(yán)。
上兩例中的Catch-22原是一部著名美國(guó)黑色幽默小說(shuō)的標(biāo)題,漢語(yǔ)譯名是《第二十二條軍規(guī)》。書中杜撰的這條軍規(guī),其實(shí)是ー個(gè)令人左右為難、無(wú)法擺脫的圈套,后來(lái)人們就用它來(lái)比喩“難以逾越的障礙”或“無(wú)法解脫的困境”。