Question of the Day #815

If you don’t do audits, a potential Pandora's box of devilish practices might get started and grow without nary a concern that the house of cards is conning others and someday might crash and devastate innocents.

From the 10th paragraph of this article at Forbes.

  上記の文で、house of cardsの意味は？
In the sentence above, what does "house of cards" mean?

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明日、ここに答えを書きます。
I will add the answer and other remarks here tomorrow.

 

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解答

意味：
英辞郎によると、

〔トランプカードで作った家のように〕不安定な建物［構造・計画］、砂上の楼閣◆【直訳】トランプ札で作った家/li>

   

Answer

According to Merriam-Webster:

a structure, situation, or institution that is insubstantial, shaky, or in constant danger of collapse

 

Examples

• If the weakest link breaks, the inspection process will collapse like a house of cards.
• The whole thing is a house of cards and will add to the instability of the country.
• The film is a house of cards. If one scene fails to hold, the entire credibility of the film comes crashing down.
• The scheme is so overly complicated that it's likely to prove to be just another house of cards.
• The next twenty-four hours may well bring the entire house of cards we have constructed tumbling about our ears. -- Ross, Melville LOHENGRIN (2003)

 

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