Fork in the road (metaphor)

A Knight at the Crossroads

A fork in the road is a metaphor, based on a literal expression, for a deciding moment in life or history when a major choice of options is required. Compare "crossing the Rubicon".

Examples

• There is a common motif in Russian folk tales, where a vityaz (Russian knight) comes to a fork in the road and sees a menhir with an inscription that reads: "If you ride to the left, you will lose your horse, if you ride to the right, you will lose your head".
• The phrase appears in the Book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 21:19–23 NRSV).

"Mortal, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall issue from the same land. And make a signpost, make it for a fork in the road leading to a city; mark out the road for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites or to Judah and to Jerusalem the fortified.

• A fork in the road is mused upon by Robert Frost in his poem "The Road Not Taken", which begins, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..."
• Malapropist extraordinare Yogi Berra's saying "When you come to a fork in the road, take it" made the title of his book ISBN 0-7868-6775-2
• The album cover of A Nice Pair includes a literal depiction of a fork in the road, a visual pun on the expression.

See also

• Fork in the road (disambiguation) (for other meanings of Fork in the road)
• Crossroads (culture)
• Road junction