what is a "deal breaker"?

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sky_meat

#153602 Mon, 31 Oct 05 06:30 PM

Greetings to all friends and teachers here:

Yesterday i came across this idiom " deal breaker" when i was reading the VOA News article. I donot really understand the meaning of it, so i'd like to ask for help in what does it mean and how to use it correctly in my own writting and speach. Thanks in advance!

The sentence in the original article goes like this: " After agreeing in principle last month to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs, Pyongyang turned around and insisted the international community provide it with a light-water nuclear reactor first. The other parties to the talks have rejected this. Mr. Richardson said the North Koreans expressed some flexibility on the issue, and said he does not believe it is a deal breaker."

Does " deal breaker" mean the starting point in making a deal or deas it mean the most significant point in a deal? please explain a bit.

sky_meat

Joined on Sun, Apr 10 2005

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Waïti

#153605 Mon, 31 Oct 05 06:59 PM

Welcome to englishforums.com !
I would understand a 'deal breaker' as something or someone that causes the deal to be cancelled or terminated. In other words breaking the deal means that the agreement becomes 'null and void' eg is no longer valid and binding to the parties.
Waïti.

Waïti

Joined on Thu, Aug 25 2005

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khoff

#153624 Mon, 31 Oct 05 08:15 PM

I would say that a "deal-breaker" is a non-negotiable demand. If A refuses to agree with B's "deal-breaker," then "the deal is off" -- B walks away from the negotiations and no further compromises are considered.

khoff

Joined on Sun, Mar 6 2005

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Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert)

Jjf

#153660 Mon, 31 Oct 05 09:58 PM

A "deal breaker" is "that which breaks (terminates, cancels) the deal." It can be a position that is unacceptable to the other party ("we will never allow you to have nuclear capacity" or "we will continue acquiring nuclear materials") or an action that violates the conditions of the deal (such as continuing nuclear research after promising to stop it).

Jjf

Joined on Mon, Oct 31 2005

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CalifJim

#153784 Tue, 01 Nov 05 06:20 AM

Cf. sine qua non

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

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"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

sky_meat

#154155 Wed, 02 Nov 05 03:50 AM

Jjf wrote:
A "deal breaker" is "that which breaks (terminates, cancels) the deal." It can be a position that is unacceptable to the other party ("we will never allow you to have nuclear capacity" or "we will continue acquiring nuclear materials") or an action that violates the conditions of the deal (such as continuing nuclear research after promising to stop it).

Thx all the friends and teachers, the explanation here is really helpful!! ~~Let's see if i understand this idiom correctly now~~

Refering back to the sentence i quoted on First floor, the "deal breaker" in that case would be " providing a light water nuclear complex to North Korea" , so the guy said " he doesn't believe it is a deal breaker" implies that even if the light water nuclear complex is not provided, he doesn't think North Korea would insist on this issue and cancel the negotiation as a result.

Am i right?

sky_meat

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