poisoned chalice

Language: en

Meaning: (idiomatic)Something which isinitiallyregardedasadvantageousbut which islaterrecognizedto bedisadvantageousorharmful; anapparentlybeneficialorbenigninstrumentorschemeforcausingdeathorharm.Antonym:blessing in disguiseHyponym:hospital passc.1606(date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward]Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act I, scene vii],page135, column 1:[W]e but teach / Bloody Inſtructions, which, being taught, returne / To plague th' Inuentor. This euen-handed Iuſtice / Commends th' Ingredience of ourpoyſon'd Challice/ To our owne lips.1798, Peter Porcupine [pseudonym;William Cobbett],Democratic Principles Illustrated. Part the Second.[…], 4th edition, London:[…]J. Wright,[…],→OCLC,page17:Let this,Englishmen, be a leſſon to you; throw from you the doctrine ofequality, as you would thepoiſoned chalice. Wherever this deteſtable principle gains ground to any extent, ruin muſt inevitably enſue.1818July 25,Jedediah Cleishbotham[pseudonym;Walter Scott], chapter VI, inTales of My Landlord, Second Series,[…](The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh:[…][James Ballantyne and Co.] forArchibald Constable and Company,→OCLC,page139:Remember the death of Wilson was fearfully avenged; and those yet live who can compel you to drink the dregs of yourpoisoned chalice.— [...]1861May 11, W. L. Underwood, “Another interview with Mr.[Abraham] Lincoln”, inThe New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.:The New York Times Company,→ISSN,→OCLC:You need not, therefore, be surprised to hear of the vigorous blockade of the Chesapeake and Hampton Roads, and of the ports of seceded States, and that if these States erect batteries at Memphis or Vicksburgh to intercept the commerce of the Mississippi, that measures of stern retaliation or resistance will be inaugurated by the Government, to force thepoisoned chaliceto the lips of those who first drugged it.1989,Charles Taylor,Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity, Cambridge, Mass.:Harvard University Press,→ISBN, page519:The great spiritual visions of human history have also beenpoisoned chalices, the causes of untold misery and even savagery.1989June 30, Antony Walker, “Iran’s confident new face”, inThe Age, Melbourne, Vic.:Fairfax Media,→ISSN,→OCLC,page11, column 4:His [Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's] role last year in persuading Ayatollah[Ruhollah] Khomeinito agree a Gulf War ceasefire – a decision the imam likened "to drinking from apoisoned chalice" – enhanced his reputation for pragmatism.2007,Ali A[bdul-Amir] Allawi, “Showdown at the Shrine”, inThe Occupation of Iraq: Winning the War, Losing the Peace, New Haven, Conn.:Yale University Press,→ISBN,page316:The CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] left the Interim Government with two unresolved crises that were more akin topoisoned chalices.2013November 24, “Editorial: Reports of a Murdoch-Blairfeud are good news for Labour”, inThe Independent‎[2], London:Independent News & Media,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon3 June 2016:It is why the question of whetherLabourshould have accepted the support of his [Rupert Murdoch's] media empire as a gift, or spurned it as apoisoned chalice, retains a certain relevance.2024May 4, Guy Chazan, Leila Abboud, quotingSimon Hix, “Le Pen strains ties with German far-right”, inFT Weekend, page 2:“For them [the populist right], the AfD is becoming apoisoned chalice.”

Examples:

EN: It's a poisoned chalice, you know.
ES: ¡es un regalo envenenado!
EN: A poisoned chalice, indeed.
ES: - Un cáliz envenenado, por cierto.
EN: But I think you may have been handed a poisoned chalice.
ES: Pero creo que quizá te han pasado un cáliz envenenado.
EN: I always say the best thing to do when you're handed a poisoned chalice.. is to hand it back.
ES: Siempre digo que lo mejor cuando te pasan un cáliz envenenado... es devolverlo.
EN: It 'a poisoned chalice.
ES: Es un cáliz envenenado.
EN: Under normal circumstances, perhaps, but this is clearly a poisoned chalice.
ES: En circunstancias normales, quizá, pero éste es un cáliz claramente envenenado.
EN: But it was this reputation that'd almost cause him to lose everything when he took up the poisoned chalice of trying to tame one of the world's greatest rivers.
ES: Pero fue su reputación la que casi le hace perder todo, cuando aceptó el cáliz envenenado de tratar de domesticar uno de los más grandes ríos del mundo.
EN: That we but teach bloody instruction, which, being taught, returns to plague the inventor. This even-handed justice commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice to our own lips.
ES: porque al enseñar nosotros cómo se lleva a cabo la ejecución de actos sangrientos, las enseñanzas se volverían en contra nuestra y la justicia, rígida, imparcial, pasaría a nuestros labios la pócima de nuestro envenenado cáliz.
EN: She reaches for the poisoned chalice.
ES: Tiende la mano al cáliz de veneno.
EN: I won't pretend it's not a poisoned chalice.
ES: - No quería decir que la copa no estuviera envenenada.
EN: I can see that you have all drunk from the poisoned chalice!
ES: ¡Puedo ver que todos están ebrios del cáliz envenenado!
EN: This even-handed justice commends the ingredience of our poisoned chalice to our own lips.
ES: La justicia, con mano igual presenta a nuestros propios labios los ingredientes del cáliz que nosotros hemos emponzoñado.
ES: La ecuánime justicia ofrece el veneno de nuestro cáliz, a nuestros labios.
EN: Although being your guv'nor's starting to look like a poisoned chalice, Gerald.
ES: Aunque ser tu jefe empieza a parecer algo peligroso, Gerald.
EN: lt;(MARCO) Cloud died of a poisoned chalice found at the park.
ES: Nuvola murió envenenada con una albóndiga que encontró en el parque.
EN: The only legacy is a poisoned chalice.
ES: El único legado es un regalo envenado.

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