美國習慣用語 第744:自尋死路

我剛跟我一個做銀行出納的朋友吃完午飯。她最近失業了，不過也要怪她自己。不久前開會，她好心建議，可以增設自動提款機，減少開支，銀行高層接受了她的建議，結果非常成功，反而不需要她們這些出納了。這讓我想起一個習慣用語，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 , 己籤自己的死亡證書。顯而易見，就是自我毀滅，自尋死路的意思。

就象我那個出納朋友，主動提議銀行增設自動提款機，全自動了，還要他們這些出納做什麼呢？這就叫, she signed her own death warrant.

在下面這個例子裏，一位作者怎麼會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!

這個作家的經紀人說：我的最暢銷的作家之一就是仗着他的《偵探X》系列才成爲百萬富翁的。他爲什麼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。他寫了這麼長的系列就算結束了。

美國不久前剛剛發生了一起氣球男孩事件。這個孩子的父親承認，他們欺騙媒體和警方，說孩子爬到熱氣球裏在天上飛，其實完全是爲了增加知名度，爭取能做個真人秀。可事實上，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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在下面這個例子裏，一家錄像出租店順應時代潮流，改變經營模式。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.

這段話說的是：原來，所有人都到明星錄像店去租電影看。他們的生意火得要命。後來，整個錄像帶租賃行業發生了變化。他們就增加了網上郵購的服務，提供各種娛樂產品和電子遊戲。他們不僅沒有自毀前程，反而採取了很聰明的做法，保存了競爭力。

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