poisoned chalice

Senso (Inglese)

Something which is initially regarded as advantageous but which is later recognized to be disadvantageous or harmful; an apparently beneficial or benign instrument or scheme for causing death or harm.

sinonimi

Trojan horse

Traduzioni

cavall de Troia

Trojanisches Pferd

Danaergeschenk

cheval de Troie

paard van Troje

vergiftigd geschenk

caballo de Troya

Con il trattino come

poi‧soned

Pronunciato come (IPA)

/ˈpɔɪzn̩d ˈtʃælɪs/

Etimologia (Inglese)

From poisoned + chalice (“large drinking cup”), referring to a chalice containing a poisoned drink which is offered to someone. The earliest use of the term cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is in Shakespeare’s Macbeth (c. 1606), in a speech in which Macbeth flinches from the prospective murder of King Duncan: see the quotation.