1

Is there a word that means having a choice between two options? I can't use Binary Options as that is associated with a "financial option" or gambling.

Example

Mike got two job offers in one week after being unemployed for a month. He was happy for his _____ (adjective noun)

desbest
  • 706
  • 1
    Why "adjective"? There is nothing to qualify. I suggest a noun such as "dilemma" or "luck" or "opportunity". – Weather Vane Nov 22 '17 at 21:32
  • Nouns are naming words for objects, like tree, cat and human. The word I'm looking for can't be a noun as it doesn't refer to an object. It also can't be a verb as verbs are doing words like kick, speak and sleep. You can't "do" having two choices for something. So it must be an adjective. ;) It describes a situation. Nouns and verbs can't describe a situation. – desbest Nov 22 '17 at 21:33
  • Sorry, but "luck" is a noun. You don't have to be able to touch or see something for it to be a noun. Your insistence for an adjective could produce Mike got two job offers in one week after being unemployed for a month. He was happy for his lucky. This does not work. It would need another noun to qualify, such as happy for his lucky strike. – Weather Vane Nov 22 '17 at 21:35
  • Doesn't the word lucky in the second sentence, describe the strike, considering that without the word strike after it, it doesn't work? The word lucky, adds extra meaning to the word strike, in the same way in "red ball", the word red adds extra meaning to the word ball. – desbest Nov 22 '17 at 21:40
  • Yes that is what I wrote. – Weather Vane Nov 22 '17 at 21:40
  • So if it describes the strike, the word lucky must be an adjective, as adjectives are describing words. – desbest Nov 22 '17 at 21:41
  • Sigh, but the trailing lucky is meaningless - there is no adjective that can fill in your blank. – Weather Vane Nov 22 '17 at 21:43
  • I wasn't taught that peculiar aspect of english in school. I wonder how you know it. – desbest Nov 22 '17 at 21:44
  • So why does your profile say "My writing experience comes from writing 2 novels about realism, gaining two distinctions and a merit for writing essays for a course that lasted for 2 years, and editing a journalist's articles"? And now you ask for an adjective. I am lost. – Weather Vane Nov 22 '17 at 21:46
  • I never said I was a professional writer. I can only speak from what I know. Keep in mind that lesser skilled or knowledgeable writers can sometimes know more about something than someone who knows more. No one person can know everything. – desbest Nov 22 '17 at 21:48
  • Somewhat similar to What is the word for always YES (100%) or always NO (0%), never in-between Also there are lots of questions on this site about boolean synonymous- perhaps one of those is a duplicate? – k1eran Nov 22 '17 at 21:59
  • There is the phrase 'this embarrassment of choice'. From ODO: << an embarrassment of riches (or choice) PHRASE:

    More options or resources than one knows what to do with. ... ‘as consumers we have an embarrassment of choice’

     – Edwin Ashworth Nov 22 '17 at 23:20
  • I can't use Binary Options as that is associated with a "financial option" or gambling. I'm not following your reasoning here, could you elaborate? How does "binary option" associate to either? – Flater Nov 27 '17 at 11:04
  • "square the circle" :-) – FrankMK Nov 27 '17 at 16:44
  • @Flater http://lmgtfy.com/?q=binary+options – desbest Nov 28 '17 at 20:38

5 Answers5

3

  1. Dilemma

. - a situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two different things you could do:

Dilemma seems to have a negative connotation but you could predicate it with "happy" as in happy dilemma.

  1. Typically such situations are referred to as "Good problem to have".
moonstar
  • 2,400
  • 1
    Is there a word for dilemma without a negative connotation? What if it isn't a difficult choice? – desbest Nov 22 '17 at 21:42
  • 2
    Dilemma is a good answer to this question... I can't understand the down-votes. A dilemma doesn't have to be an unpleasant or uncomfortable occurrence, necessarily. – ArchContrarian Nov 22 '17 at 21:59
  • @ArchContrarian Why do you say that? I would never use dilemma on this context. The OED and MW both agree with me. I downvoted because I view this answer as wrong. – Stella Biderman Nov 27 '17 at 05:00
  • 2
    @StellaBiderman ... OK, thanks. I was genuinely questioning the reasoning behind the downvotes, rather than criticising their existence. Maybe my understanding of the normal usage is a bit skewed because I studied formal logic at one time in my life, but to me 'dilemma' includes any difficult choice between two options, even when both options are positive. I accept that (all else being equal) dilemma is usually 'a bad thing'. – ArchContrarian Nov 27 '17 at 15:55
  • @ArchContrarian A dilemma can be a difficult choice to make, even when both options are positive. The issue is that the fact that you need to make a choice choice needs to be distressing for it to be a dilemma. The experience of being in the position of making a choice can be negative, even if both choices are beneficial. This could happen if Mike has two offers in different fields and worries about which will be a better decision for his future, for example. However, Mike is explicitly happy to be in the situation he is in, and so it's not a dilemma. – Stella Biderman Nov 27 '17 at 15:58
  • @StellaBiderman The downvotes are simple. The OP asked for "a choice between two options". The choice between a small and large soft drink isn't generally considered a dilemma. The answer carries more baggage. It indicates a difficult choice between two competing options. – jimm101 Nov 28 '17 at 19:30
0

Quandary is one word (I believe this is a single word request).

I would rephrase as below: Mike got two job offers in one week after being unemployed for a month. leaving him in a happy quandary.

But I do like "embarrassment of riches" and, simply, "in a pickle." The pickle would be necessarily a happy one. "He was in a happy pickle."

Gavin Barrett
  • 44
0

Fortune:

luck, especially good luck.

The aspect that he has to make a difficult decision is a dilemma or quandary. Having two choices is fortune, either as "luck" or maybe "wealth".

jimm101
  • 10,753
-1

I think that the best single word to fill this blank would be along the lines of "luck", "choices", or "offers". I agree with the comments that there isn't a single noun in English that specifically means "having the ability to choose between multiple options" that doesn't carry a negative attitude towards the choice. You can either allude to the multiplicity or to the fact that he is pleased, but not both at the same time.

In particular, the answer of "dilemma" is wrong; a dilemma is a distressing or unpleasant choice. The Cambridge, dictionary.com, and Merriam Webster dictionaries all use it only in the context.

If you are open to using multiple words, you can use a phrase like "binary choice”, “dual offers", "multiple options" and similar.

Stella Biderman
  • 339
  • Binary choice sounds good. – desbest Nov 22 '17 at 21:58
  • @desbest that's what I would go with, personally. – Stella Biderman Nov 22 '17 at 21:58
  • Hello, Stella. Some questions just don't fit the ELU template. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 22 '17 at 23:15
  • @EdwinAshworth I don’t understand the meaning of your comment. – Stella Biderman Nov 27 '17 at 05:02
  • Responding 'there's no such word', especially for the umpteenth time, does not constitute a good 'answer' on ELU. That's why others have just used 'comments'. Also for work-arounds. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 27 '17 at 15:09
  • @EdwinAshworth The original post has had the word “adjective” changed to “noun” after commenters informed the OP that there is no adjective. I guess you could say that me reaffirming those comments is redundant, but I don’t see why that’s a problem for you. I also proposed several words that meet the criteria of the edited question. I don’t understand the problem you have with this answer. Do you have the same problem with all the other answers, or do they not bother you because they don’t reference the conversation in the comments? – Stella Biderman Nov 27 '17 at 15:13
  • I downvoted both the other answers. However, if you think I'm being discriminatory ... Note the constraint 'single-word request', which precludes phrases as 'answers' (though I'd not worry about work-arounds in 'comments', and in fact suggested one). – Edwin Ashworth Nov 27 '17 at 15:15
  • @EdwinAshworth I didn't say that you're being discriminatory. I have re-centered my answer on the concrete recommendations of single words. Does the current answer meet your preferences? – Stella Biderman Nov 27 '17 at 15:54
-1

I was trying to discern the same 'word' to-day, which for my circumstance was predicating an ultimatum:

  1. a. In diplomacy, the final terms presented by one power (or group of powers) to another, the rejection of which may lead to [ a severance. ]

(Oxford English Dictionary)

jimm101
  • 10,753
Jack B. Nimble
  • 1