Mexican standoff
4
6.3
- noun
- /ˈmɛksɪkən ˈstændɔf/
- Informal
:
punto muerto
- The negotiation reached a Mexican standoff, with neither side willing to make concessions.
- got a Mexican standoff
So it's the explosion, a SEAL team and three bad guys inside this circle and what we call a Mexican standoff, right?
- So it's the explosion, a SEAL team and three bad guys inside this circle and what we call a Mexican standoff, right?
Examples
-
This is what you call an old Mexican standoff, huh?
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The Mexican standoff is getting even more heated.
Fiction book (1997) -
Now, see, this is what we call a Mexican standoff.
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What we got here is a Mexican standoff.
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We could have a Mexican standoff, then.
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Looks like we got us a Mexican standoff.
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This is a Mexican standoff.
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And in case they are planning some kind of Mexican standoff, we had better be ready.
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What we have here is a Mexican standoff, a la "The Wild Bunch."
Fiction book (1996) -
It's a Mexican standoff in Paris.
Fiction book (1997)
Synonyms
90
6.2
A time when two opposing groups face each other and neither moves
42
6.3
A situation in a game or argument where no one can make progress
19
5.8
A situation where people cannot move forward because both sides refuse to agree
Antonyms
How Deadlocked
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'standoff' already conveys a confrontation where neither side advances, so a learner knowing both words will grasp the general idea of a deadlock; however the modifier 'Mexican' does not transparently explain why the stalemate is inescapable and may be misread as referring to nationality. The specific connotations of a mutually destructive or irresolvable impasse carried by the idiom are not fully predictable from the parts, making the expression only partially compositional.
Etymology
Mexican standoff may come from old stories and films where several people pointed guns at each other so no one could safely fire, and everyone was stuck because any move could be deadly. That's why today it means 'a situation where no side can win'.