Term for situation where alternative choice is not really one

Question

What would you call a situation where the current one sucks but you have a 'choice' to an alternative, however the alternative is not really one.

Such as,

"Sure living in an area under a monopoly internet provider sucks, but you can always live without internet"

Demonstrating an issue where one of the choices isn't really a viable choice or at least comparable alternative.

(There are more dramatic ones)

Are you looking for a word other than "dilemma," which means a choice between undesirable options? — Justin Greer, Oct 03 '14 at 20:10
well a dilemma is more generic. I think Hobson's choice (phenry's answer) is what I want. — CobaltHex, Oct 03 '14 at 20:11
possible duplicate of Term for a choice that you like and you dislike?. Also Term for situation where alternative choice is terrible, Proverb or expression for a situation with two choices, both leading to a different kind of trouble, and others. — FumbleFingers, Oct 03 '14 at 21:29
@FumbleFingers your second link leads back to this question. — kettlecrab, Oct 04 '14 at 00:31
@FizzledOut: We all make mistakes. It looked like there were at least half-a-dozen when I did a Google "site-specific search" for hobson's choice, so I just picked the first three. Here's another one to make up for the "interloper": Expression for a choice which isn't really one — FumbleFingers, Oct 04 '14 at 01:15

score 21 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 03 '14 at 20:09

You may be thinking of a Hobson's choice:

A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice is therefore between taking the option or not; "take it or leave it". The phrase is said to originate with Thomas Hobson (1544–1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England. To rotate the use of his horses, he offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all.

Morton's fork and Scylla and Charybdis are related concepts.

score 15 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 03 '14 at 20:49

15

You can consider the lesser of two evils (also a lesser evil).

the less unpleasant of two choices, neither of which is good:

But allowing a criminal to go free is perhaps the lesser of two evils if the alternative is imprisoning an innocent person.

^{http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/the-lesser-of-two-evils}

answered Oct 03 '14 at 20:49

ermanen

62,797

While that works for saying that you prefer your choice, I wouldn't say it really describes the problem with situation. – CobaltHex Oct 03 '14 at 21:00
2

@CobaltHex: You can perfectly fit in your example. "Sure living in an area under a monopoly internet provider is the lesser of two evils if the alternative is living without internet." – ermanen Oct 03 '14 at 21:02
yes, I'm not disagreeing, I just feel like the phrase would be used in a different manner/context. Or at least, it doesn't really describe/emphasize the lack of real choice. – CobaltHex Oct 03 '14 at 21:15
@CobaltHex: Hobson's choice doesn't indicate your specific situation at all. You have two bad options and one of them is worst than the other. Hobson's choice is about taking an option or not. You can call it "lesser of two evils principle" to indicate the situation better. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_of_two_evils_principle – ermanen Oct 04 '14 at 18:04
well I was referring more to hobsons choice, where one of the choices isn't really a viable option – CobaltHex Oct 04 '14 at 20:47
@CobaltHex: But in your example, you can choose either option. One sucks and other sucks even more but you can still choose either. You were not asking what you meant to ask then. – ermanen Oct 04 '14 at 21:12

score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 03 '14 at 20:10

10

the most common phrase for this is between a rock and a hard place:

Being in a dilemma where the only two available options are both unsatisfying or bad.

The other term is dilemma:

a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives.

_{Knowyourphrase.com and Dictionary.com}

answered Oct 03 '14 at 20:10

anongoodnurse

55,278

I wouldn't really consider them equally undesirable however. (Certainly both bad, but not in the same way) – CobaltHex Oct 03 '14 at 20:14
1

@CobaltHex- That sums up ermanen's answer perfectly- both evil, but not equally so, therefore you choose the best of a bad situation. medica, I upvoted yours as well :-) – Jim Oct 03 '14 at 21:48
2

If you go this route, also consider saying that it puts you in a bind. – kettlecrab Oct 04 '14 at 00:26

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 03 '14 at 22:21

2

Hugh Rawson, in his book Unwritten Laws, considers Shakespeare's First Law as an alternative to Hobson's Choice. It comes from The Taming of the Shrew, (1593-1594)

There's small choice in rotten apples

answered Oct 03 '14 at 22:21

zundarz

371

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 03 '14 at 23:03

Plenty of alternatives in previous answers, but a modern variation would be a "sophie's choice." [Spoiler Alert] In William Styron's book (and the movie of the same name), the main character, a mother with two young children, is demanded by a Nazi officer to choose which child will go on a train to the camps, in order to preserve her own and the other child's life. (It's a choice she never really recovers from.)

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 03 '14 at 22:56

'Up a river without a paddle' I wonder if pluralizing would get this done for you 'Up either river and no paddles' 'Damned if I do damned if I don't' "Between a rock and a hard place", since both objects or metaphorical choices are rough. "Between the devil and the deep blue sea" "Out of the frying pan, into the fire"

http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/up+a+river+without+a+paddle.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilemma

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 03 '14 at 23:18

0

A fine loan-word (from German) that might be useful is Zugzwang - it refers to a situation in chess where any move a player makes will lead to disaster. The word is reasonably rarely-used but is found in English dictionaries.

answered Oct 03 '14 at 23:18

Adam

9

1

No, that does not really fit. Zugzwang specifically refers to a situation where you HAVE to make a move. The person in the question has a choice. – Sebastian Negraszus Oct 04 '14 at 14:58

score 0 · Answer 8 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

A situation that sucks and only has terrible alternatives is a huge $#1t-sandwich.

I'm not sure that Catch-22 or Hobson's choice apply here. A catch-22 means that each option has the other as a prerequisite, and Hobson's choice is a "false choice", where only one option is really given (the other being to do nothing, rather than having a legitimate second option). – Adam Robinson, -EL&U

Term for situation where alternative choice is not really one

8 Answers8