the kiss of death - This term alludes to the betrayal of Jesus
by Judas Iscariot, who kissed him as a way of identifying him to the soldiers
who came to arrest him (Matthew 26: 47–49). It dates only from about 1940
but was previously called a Judas kiss.－死亡之吻、犹大之吻
那我的朋友说the kiss of death for anything these days又是什么意思呢？
朗文字典的解析是：the kiss of death：(informal) something that spoils or ruins a plan, activity etc
他的意思是现在的人对长篇大论不感兴趣、没有耐心。
和the kiss of death向对应的短语有: the kiss of life －是生命之吻么？可以这么说吧，因为 the kiss of life是“人工呼吸”(mouth-to-mouth resuscitation).
提起生命之吻，让我想起童话故事里最神奇的两个吻，一个是唤醒睡美人(Sleeping Beauty)的王子之吻，一个是让青蛙王子（Frog Prince)恢复人形的公主之吻。好像只有王子和公主的吻才有如此神奇的力量。
英语中有一句话，"You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your handsome prince."
The phrase is used to encourage females with romance troubles.
听说过 the KISS principle么？ 这个原则和吻无关。 KISS= Keep it simple, stupid! 是一条很出名的设计原则。也就是凡事应该简单易懂。听说UNIX就是根据the KISS principle设计的。
我有一次听一位欧盟的口译谈口译，他说口译的一个原则就是KISS=Keep it short and simple.
关于kiss最出名的歌词当然是Casablanca里面的"A kiss is still a kiss in Casablanca. A kiss is not a kiss without your sigh."