crash and

问题描述:

crash and
在一篇文章中,我看到:CLODFELTER:"Crash and burn is a good one.Referring to somebody whos very gifted perhaps as an ace."
AA:"Meaning a pilot who shoots down a lot of other planes."
CLODFELTER:"Yeah,but obviously it can refer to an ace corporate executive,ace tennis player,I mean it can refer to many things.The term was first used in a military capacity in World War One."
那说明crash and burn指的是精英者.
又在另一文中看到:No,wait!I didn't mean that literally.When you say that someone is going to
crash and burn,it means that they are going to fail,usually in a very
spectacular or embarrassing way.‘
这里crash and burn又指的失败.
是两者都有,还是什么?
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你说得很对,这个词组的广泛应用是因为一部1977年的加拿大电影《Crash 'n' Burn》(也就是你提问中的对话内容来源),1990年又被一部科幻片用作片名.后来多次用在歌曲里面广泛流传.
 
就目前看来,crash and burn 的基本意思有两个:
(词面意思):飞机或汽车的事故现象描述
(引申意思):场面“壮丽”的一次失败.例:Poor Chuck really crashed and burned when he made his presentation at the sales meeting.(通常反映了描述者的同情和遗憾,带有很强的“出生未捷身先死”和“壮志未酬”的味道.)
其他例子:
- Gil lost his job and his pension when the company crashed and burned.
- She watched her parents' marriage crash and burn.
 
其实,正如你的理解,crash and burn 包含了“勇敢”、“功败垂成”的意思,但事情的结果是一个 failure.