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.

有一个人我是绝对不要他当候选人的，那就是约瑟夫.布罗。对，他也许是个很好的演说家，还有其他长处，但是他一直和那些不正当的商业勾当有牵连。一旦报纸开始报道这些事，我们所有竞选市政委员的候选人就都完蛋了。

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.

他说：“求求你，帮我去跟爸爸说说吧。你知道妈总是同意爸爸的决定的。要是妈为了我去跟爸爸说，那我的这次旅行就算完了。

我看过一部小说《晚年周恩来》英文版第一章the kiss of death （死亡之吻），但不理解这二个句子中的意思。

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

本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（张欣） 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 张欣，编辑 Bernard）