One candidate I won't support is Joseph Blow. Sure, he may be a good speaker and all that, but he's been involved in some shady business deals. Once the newspapers start digging that up, it would be the kiss of death for our whole list of candidates for the city council.

有一個人我是絕對不要他當候選人的，那就是約瑟夫.布羅。對，他也許是個很好的演說家，還有其他長處，但是他一直和那些不正當的商業勾當有牽連。一旦報紙開始報道這些事，我們所有競選市政委員的候選人就都完蛋了。

2.Go talk to Dad for me please. You know Mom always goes along with Dad's decisions. If she approaches Dad on my behalf that would be the kiss of death to my trip.

他說：“求求你，幫我去跟爸爸說說吧。你知道媽總是同意爸爸的決定的。要是媽為了我去跟爸爸說，那我的這次旅行就算完了。

我看過一部小說《晚年周恩來》英文版第一章the kiss of death （死亡之吻），但不理解這二個句子中的意思。

After all，this is a tempest in a teapot.

My comments:

A kiss is something everyone wants, the brushing of lips between lovers and loved ones.

Kiss of death?

Literally it’s a kiss that leads to death, i.e. metaphorically a relationship that is ultimately ruinous.

Politicians all love businesses. After all, it’s their bread and butter – albeit in an indirect way, as most candidates today won’t stand a chance without someone paying for his running costs.

However, there is something called conflict of interest. And if that relationship becomes too intimate, it may be dangerous and career ending.

Hence, close involvement in business is a kiss of death for politicians, proving to be their ultimate self-undoing.

Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者 張欣，編輯 Bernard）