Buridan's ass
- noun
- /ˈbʊrɪdənz æs/
- Formal
:
el asno de Buridán
- He faced a classic case of Buridan's ass when choosing between two job offers.
Examples
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In the movie, the character experiences Buridan's ass while deciding on a career path.
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He found himself in a Buridan's ass situation, unable to decide between two equally enticing job opportunities.
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He found himself in a Buridan's ass scenario, unable to pick between two appealing job offers.
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The committee reached a Buridan's ass moment, unable to agree on either budget proposal.
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Whenever I face equally tempting options, I feel like Buridan's ass—stuck in endless hesitation.
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The board was in a Buridan's ass dilemma, unable to choose between two equally beneficial budget plans.
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Whenever I have to pick between two great vacation options, I feel like Buridan's ass, stuck in indecision.
Synonyms
258
4.2
A situation where you must choose between two or more bad options
19
3.4
Not able to make a choice quickly or with confidence
Antonyms
How Indecisive
Surface Forms
Morphology
Buridan's + ass
This refers to a philosophical anecdote (Buridan's donkey) rather than a compositional meaning; knowing 'ass' (donkey) and the possessive 'Buridan's' does not allow a learner to infer the abstract idea of paralysis by indecision. The expression requires cultural or background knowledge of the story, so its meaning is not derivable from the constituent words for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Buridan's ass comes from a famous story about a donkey, an ass, placed exactly between two identical piles of hay and unable to choose which to eat, so it starved. That's why the phrase means 'unable to choose between two equally good options', often causing someone to do nothing.