Is there any idiom about the problems so bad that cannot be solved? [closed]
Do we have any idiom in English stating such a concept? "the problem got so bad/complex that it cannot be solved anymore"
Solution 1:
You may use the idiomatic expression quagmire:
- a situation that is hard to deal with or get out of : a situation that is full of problems.
Example:
- That was six months ago, when the Defense secretary laughingly dismissed the idea that Iraq was, or could turn into, a quagmire.
(M-W)
also
A blind alley :
- (informal) a situation in which no further progress can be made.
(Collins)
Solution 2:
For not very formal use, and in the vein of IvanSanchez's answer but which is arguably a little stronger: FUBAR. "That thing is FUBAR'd". It's an acronym that stands for
- fucked
- up
- beyond
- all
- recognition
Since the situation is now "beyond all recognition", it is deemed impossible to solve.
Solution 3:
Sisyphus was doomed to push a rock up a hill only for it to roll down every night. From this we get the concept of a Sisyphean task.
There are many colloquial phrases perhaps derived in spirit from this myth, for tasks which can't be completed, for example pushing water uphill with a rake and nailing jelly to a wall. These are quite common in UK engineering circles.
If it was impossible when it was given to you and your manager knew it but you didn't, the effect on your career might be serious. In this case the phrase poisoned chalice would be applicable. Strictly this lacks the sense of impossibility of fixing solving the problem, but a solution wouldn't be a success.
Solution 4:
I would simply say unsolvable or (thank you @OrangeDog) insoluble. As @JohnWaylandBales replied you also have intractable but you were asking for "cannot be solved" not "hard to solve".
There is an interesting word for a problem so hard to solve within its (usually implied) rules but so important that someone breaks those rules in order to obtain a solution: a gordian knot problem, cutting the gordian knot.
Solution 5:
I would say SNAFU, military slang for «Situation Normal: All Fucked Up». The problem/situation is horrible, but it's been so for long enough as to be accepted as the normal situation.