美國(guó)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)：866 sign one's own death warrant

我剛跟我一個(gè)做銀行出納的朋友吃完午飯。她最近失業(yè)了，不過(guò)也要怪她自己。不久前開會(huì)，她好心建議，可以增設(shè)自動(dòng)提款機(jī)，減少開支，銀行高層接受了她的建議，結(jié)果非常成功，反而不需要她們這些出納了。這讓我想起一個(gè)習(xí)慣用語(yǔ)，叫, to sign one's own death warrant. Sign是簽署的意思。Death warrant死亡證書。To sign one's own death warrant , 己簽自己的死亡證書。顯而易見，就是自我毀滅，自尋死路的意思。

就象我那個(gè)出納朋友，主動(dòng)提議銀行增設(shè)自動(dòng)提款機(jī)，全自動(dòng)了，還要他們這些出納做什么呢?這就叫, she signed her own death warrant.

在下面這個(gè)例子里，一位作者怎么會(huì)搬起石頭砸了自己的腳呢?我們一起聽：

例句-1：One of my best selling authors became a multi-millionaire with the continuing adventures of "Detective X". So why did he decide to have his lead character murdered? I don't understand. He must have known that by doing so he was signing his own death warrant. His long career with the series is now over!

這個(gè)作家的經(jīng)紀(jì)人說(shuō)：我的最暢銷的作家之一就是仗著他的《偵探X》系列才成為百萬(wàn)富翁的。他為什么要讓主角給人謀殺呢?這我就不懂了。他一定知道，這樣做是自毀生路。他寫了這么長(zhǎng)的系列就算結(jié)束了。

美國(guó)不久前剛剛發(fā)生了一起氣球男孩事件。這個(gè)孩子的父親承認(rèn)，他們欺騙媒體和警方，說(shuō)孩子爬到熱氣球里在天上飛，其實(shí)完全是為了增加知名度，爭(zhēng)取能做個(gè)真人秀?？墒聦?shí)上，he signed his own death warrant. 不僅沒做成真人秀，反而可能要去坐牢。

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在下面這個(gè)例子里，一家錄像出租店順應(yīng)時(shí)代潮流，改變經(jīng)營(yíng)模式。讓我們聽聽他們的訣竅。

例句-1：Star Video did a thriving business when everyone was going to their stores to rent movies. Then the industry began to change. So they added an online mail-order service, featuring all kinds of entertainment, including video games. They could have signed their own death warrant. Instead, they made a smart move that kept them competitive.

這段話說(shuō)的是：原來(lái)，所有人都到明星錄像店去租電影看。他們的生意火得要命。后來(lái)，整個(gè)錄像帶租賃行業(yè)發(fā)生了變化。他們就增加了網(wǎng)上郵購(gòu)的服務(wù)，提供各種娛樂(lè)產(chǎn)品和電子游戲。他們不僅沒有自毀前程，反而采取了很聰明的做法，保存了競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力。

跟to sign one's own death warrant, 相類似的，還有一種說(shuō)法，叫to order one's own execution, 自己下令處死自己，意思也是自絕生路。