eternal triangle

eternal triangle

A sexual encounter or relationship between three people. Although exciting at first, the eternal triangle caused their relationship to suffer and ultimately end.
See also: eternal, triangle
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

(the) eternal triangle

a sexual or emotional relationship involving two women and one man or two men and one woman. (*Typically, a couple [man and woman] and another man or woman.) Henry can't choose between his wife and his mistress. It's the eternal triangle. I'm surprised Jane doesn't get tired of the eternal triangle. She goes out with Peter at the weekend and Jim during the week.
See also: eternal, triangle
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

eternal triangle

A relationship involving three lovers, such as two women involved with one man or two men with one woman. For example, The plot of the murder mystery revolved around the eternal triangle of a husband, wife, and another woman . [c. 1900]
See also: eternal, triangle
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

eternal triangle

a relationship between three people, typically a couple and the lover of one of them, involving sexual rivalry.
See also: eternal, triangle
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

eternal triangle, the

A threesome of lovers, either two men involved with or vying for one woman or two women and one man. “Eternal” here simply means that this situation has occurred over and over through the ages. The term has been traced to a book review appearing in the London Daily Chronicle in 1907, describing a novel that “deals with the eternal triangle, which, in this case, consists of two men and one woman.”
See also: eternal
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • eternal triangle, the
  • ménage à trois
  • fatal attraction
  • rebound relationship
  • (but) not in the biblical sense
  • puppet
  • fuckbuddy
  • friend with benefits
References in periodicals archive
"This all stems from the eternal triangle. Both he and you were in love with the same person, Lesley Carr."
Lover almost killed rival; Judge bemoans 'eternal triangle'
(It's not this line actor's fault that Morris is needlessly compared to Shakespeare's Prospero.) But the drama of dystopia that "The Earthly Paradise" could well have been speedily fades from view, replaced by a new dissection of the eternal triangle that were seems to last a lifetime.
The Earthly Paradise
While he was thrilled to be part of a King Arthur movie that actually delved more into history than myth, Ioan admits that he had expected that there would be more of an eternal triangle with Lancelot, Guinevere and Arthur in the film's plot.
Cover Story: There's only one woman in my life and her name isn't Guinevere; King Arthur heart-throb Ioan on his real-life love
I'm not sure whether the title refers to love's eternal triangle, or the number of viewers.
The crying gameshow
That's the eternal triangle. It was premised on a conceptual basis rather than a subjective gesture.
Tony Cragg talks to Barry Schwabsky. ('80s Then)
Set in a Sicilian village, Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana has the eternal triangle as part of the plot.
Friday Club: Tugan plays the opera game
But then Louise left to launch her career as a solo singer and lads' mag pin-up, and Kelle suddenly found herself the odd one out in the Eternal triangle.
ROCK: Kelle's EYES are on the future; GO2
Unlike conventional online car marts, Vauxhall's strategy is to link click-on orders to local dealerships, so the eternal triangle of car maker, car seller and car buyer is not broken.
Dot.combustion: Vauxhall's No 1 screen saver
His face lit up and the words tumbled out when he recalled the sizzling soap eternal triangle that hooked the nation.
Rover and out for dirty Des; Millions of hearts will break when Romeo Des leaves the Street. But Phil Middlemiss won't be shedding tears, as he tells JOHN MILLAR
And she had been the centre not just of an eternal triangle but an infernal crime.
Did `witch' make human sacrifice?
Borges didn't invent that particular solution to the problem posed by the eternal triangle; much earlier Dumas fils had come up with the same formulation, Tuez la femme.
Dangerous Games
Tuesday, After Christmas (15) Romanian eternal triangle drama as the meeting of his wife and mistress forces a man to make a decision.
Movies on release
Edward Fox and Nicholas Woodeson star in both, with Polly Adams making up the eternal triangle in the second.
culture: Plays stand test of time
Its story of the eternal triangle gives the opera great dramatic force, and it was recently successfully revived by the BBC at the Barbican and released on CD.
classical
That said, Barry's tale about an eternal triangle (set in a square!) offered humour, atmosphere, a feeling of confiding intimacy on the one hand and on the other, sweeping grandeur as bells (and giggles) rang out in the night air.
A night at the opera!