| 释义 |
crash-and-burn, n. and a. colloq. (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
Brit. |ˌkraʃ(ə)n(d)ˈbəːn|, U.S. |ˈkræʃ(ə)n(d)ˈbərn|
[‹ crash and burn v.]
A. n. A complete or spectacular failure; a person who or thing which fails, often as a result of risky or reckless behaviour; (also) a person who has impressive but brief success, a ‘flash in the pan’.
1985New Yorker 29 Apr. 84/3 Beyond the garden-variety crash-and-burns were the exotic flora. 1992C. P. Estés Women who run with Wolves viii. 221 In our lives, even though one episode amounts to a crash and burn, there is always another episode awaiting us and then another. 1993Empire Aug. 122/2 The requirements are so specific (excluding popularists like Paul Schrader, crash-and-burns like Michael Cimino or faceless achievers like Bruce Beresford) that one wonders at the exclusion of a few obvious prospects. 2000Far Eastern Econ. Rev. 3 Feb. 29/2 A dose of economic ‘crash and burn’ is serving the region well... Indeed, Japan illustrates what can happen when creative destruction isn't allowed to bear down fully on an economy in need of reform.
B. adj. (attrib.). Featuring spectacular explosive crashes, esp. of vehicles. Later (in fig. use): failed, risking failure, or likely to fail (esp. through recklessness); (also) having had only brief success.
1987T. P. Dunn in C. B. Yoke Phoenix from Ashes xix. 202 Such scenes have caused reviewers to consign The Road Warrior to the junk heap of ‘crash-and-burn’ films. 1989Dr. Dobb's Jrnl. Sept. 38/2 (advt.) It runs, it races, it performs like the real application... And you achieve this feat without once having to go through the old ‘crash and burn’ kind of programming so common with languages born in the age of mainframes. 1995N.Y. Outdoors Apr. 16/2 Some tricks/stunts/maneuvers..make for outrageous crash-and-burn video footage and just as outrageous footage when they nail a stunt. 1998Yachts & Yachting 12 June 22/2 Always the life and soul of the party, and one of the most spectacular in the crash-and-burn stakes, this boat has been seen at the front on occasion, and it could be again. |