In business parlance, there is no such thing as a vicious circle - there are only vicious cycles (a repeating, reinforcing set of actions that lead to destruction of value) and a virtuous cycle which is the same thing but value-creating.
What’s hilarious is that I went to check Wikipedia and it supports my definitions…but uses the word circle. Again, from a business and business consulting standpoint, the standard phrasing is cycle…
**Asimovian **- I am with you; I am surprised this is even a question - a circle is a closed loop; a cycle is a repeating sequence of events that can get vicious or virtuous. But my look at wiki was enough for me to pause and realize that the world is a funny place…
It’s definitely “circle.” Freddy the Pig was right, it’s circle as metaphor for recurring cycle. Saying “cycle” is probably a result of false etymology (sometimes confused with folk etymology).
The Gregg Reference Manual is blunt and to the point:
Merriam-Webster agrees. Vicious circle is the original form, dating to 1792. M-W has no separate entry for “vicious cycle,” noting only that it is an alternative for vicious circle.
"Circle"is also can be used as a synonym for “cycle”:
There is no logical discrepancy in using “circle” here instead of “cycle.”
Well fight my ignorance.
Now - I will still use cycle, but I will understand the implications of doing so I still can’t conflate a downward spiral with a “circle” - but clearly that is my problem…
Here’s where I first heard it. And revisiting the quote, no wonder I got confused:
“We are trapped in a vicious circle of economic, intellectual, social and political death. Inferior housing, inferior education which in turn leads to inferior jobs. We spend a lifetime in this vicious circle. Or in this vicious cycle going in circles. Giving birth to children who see no hope for the future but to follow our miserable footsteps.”
-Malcolm X, 1963.
FWIW, the expression even in Japanese is 悪循環 akujunkan, which could be translated overly literally as “evil sequential ring/circle.” *Not *cycle.
We learned it for a unit that dealt with gift-giving in Japanese culture. It’s quite possibily my favorite word I was ever officially assigned to learn, aside from 漂流者 hyouryuusha, “a person who goes adrift on the ocean,” which is not only fabulous but nigh-useless in ordinary conversation.
I still can’t conflate a downward spiral with a “circle” - but clearly that is my problem…