damned if one does and damned if one doesn't
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Faced with two options, both of which have negative consequences
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
đối mặt với hai lựa chọn, cả hai đều có hậu quả tiêu cực
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: condemned whether one acts or not
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
If I tell the truth, I'll get in trouble, and if I lie, my reputation will suffer, so I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “damned if one does and damned if one doesn't” mean?
Faced with two options, both of which have negative consequences Literally: condemned whether one acts or not
Is “damned if one does and damned if one doesn't” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.