When we describe a situation in which it's hard to tell which came first, the chicken or the egg, we're using a colloquialism that's become popular in everyday conversation: "The chicken-and-egg problem". While this phrase is useful for conveying a particular type of conundrum, there are other expressions that capture the same concept. One alternative is "a vicious circle," which describes a negative feedback loop in which one problem leads to another in a cycle that's difficult to escape. Another option is "a catch-22," a term coined by author Joseph Heller to describe a situation in which you need something to happen in order to achieve something else, but you can't make it happen without already having it in the first place.