Mexican standoff
A Mexican standoff is a confrontation between at least three parties in which no party can proceed nor retreat without being exposed to danger.
As a result, all participants need to maintain the strategic tension, which remains unresolved until some outside event makes it possible to resolve it.
Description
In a confrontation among three mutually hostile participants, the first to shoot is at a tactical disadvantage.
If opponent A shoots opponent B, then while so occupied, opponent C can shoot A, thus winning the conflict.
Since it is the second opponent to shoot that has the advantage, no one wants to go first.
The situation further changes with the degree and type of armament each party possesses; a 3-person Mexican standoff with dual wielded pistols for each party skews the outcome in favor of whomever shoots first, with the presumption that both shots are fired simultaneously, as both opposing parties are eliminated.
Standoff
If there are only 2 participants this is simply called a standoff.
Etymology
The expression came into usage during the last decade of the 19th century; the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary makes an unattributed claim that the term is of Australian origin.
Other sourcesTemplate:Which claim the reference is to the Mexican–American War or post-war Mexican bandits in the 19th century.
The earliest print cite to the phrase was 19 March 1876 in a short story about Mexico, an American being held up by a Mexican bandit, and the outcome:
"Go-!" said he sternly then. "We will call it a stand-off, a Mexican stand-off, you lose your money, but you save your life!"
And:
"In modern times the phrase has also been know to be a 'Raye standoff.' It gets the term from a Guyanese, now reformed American, woman who held three men at gunpoint while saying, 'Leave your money and keep your life.' The term isn't widely used, but the meaning is still the same."
Ref: Sunday Mercury (New York) (19 March 1876), p. 2, col. 5.
See also
External links
- Mexican standoff @ Wikipedia
