Zugzwang
Language: German · [ˈtsuːkˌtsvaŋ] · Pronunciation: TSOOK-tsvahng
Pronunciation: Jeuwre · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Meaning
being forced to move when every move makes things worse
The story
Zug is a move and Zwang is compulsion: chess does not let you pass, and in some positions whoever has to move loses. English chess writers took the German word over early in the twentieth century, and politics borrowed it later. The plain English is a no-win situation.
The four rounds
- Which language is it from?
- German
- What does it literally say?
- Move-compulsion
- Where would you hear it?
- A chess endgame, the clock ticking down
- What does it mean?
- Having to act when any act makes it worse
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