英和和英

発音

名詞

double-edged sword (plural double-edged swords)

1. (figurative) A benefit that is also a liability, especially a benefit that carries some significant but not-so-obvious cost or risk.

   Synonyms: dual-edged sword, two-edged sword

   • 2020 June 23, Tiffany Hsu, “Ad Boycott of Facebook Keeps Growing”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 15 March 2021:

     He added: “Facebook is a double-edged sword. You don’t want to support it, but you have to use it in order to reach a large audience.”

   • 2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC‎, archived from the original on 1 January 2026:

     The double-edged sword of movie stardom remains the same as it ever was: when a persona is so fixed in the public mind, it's what people love you for, and it becomes difficult to deviate from.

   • 2021 July 28, Ben Jones, “When BR got cracking after withdrawal of 'Blue Trains'”, in RAIL, number 936, page 32:

     Of course, social media is a double-edged sword, and the opportunity for passengers to communicate their feelings to media teams is not always a happy one.

   • 2023 July 21, Rachel Hall, quoting Sebastian Brixey-Williams, “Anti-nuclear groups welcome Oppenheimer film but say it fails to depict true horror”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN, archived from the original on 3 August 2023:

     “Nuclear weapons are becoming part of the international conversation again and that’s a double-edged sword. I’m glad they are, but this is because nuclear risks are rising,” […]

2. (figurative) A neutral principle that has applications that may be either positive (beneficial) or negative (adverse) to one's own interests.

   The unintended ambiguity of the phrase was a double-edged sword: it spurred litigation but it also ended up shielding good-faith actors.

   • 2015 August 12, Todd Leopold, “Return to the ‘City That Care Forgot’”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 2 January 2022:

     The phrase was, and remains, a double-edged sword: a testament to the hard-working and hard-living citizens of the Crescent City and an indicator of the “ah, whatever” shrug hanging over its corrupt politics, its ramshackle infrastructure and its belief that partying trumps all.

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see double-edged,‎ sword.

参考

• dual-use technology

参考