two-edged sword

two-edged sword

Something that can be at once beneficial and problematic; anything having or offering both good and bad aspects or outcomes. Cloud storage has become a real two-edged sword—it's wonderfully convenient, but if your subscription expires or there's a problem with the Internet, your data is suddenly impossible to access. Success can be a two-edged sword for a company that has obligations to investors, as you'll always be expected to exceed your previous successes by wider and wider margins.
See also: sword
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

two-edged sword

 and double-edged sword
Fig. something that offers both a good and bad consequence. The ability to get your insurance to pay for it is a double-edged sword. They may raise your rates. Her authority in the company is a two-edged sword. She makes more enemies than allies.
See also: sword
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • a cloud on the horizon
  • a can of worms
  • a double-edged sword
  • be a double-edged weapon
  • be a double-edged sword
  • be a double-edged sword/weapon
  • on the wrong end of (something)
  • on the wrong end of something
  • in the wrong place at the wrong time
  • a fine how do you do
References in classic literature
It was like holding an enemy's sharp two-edged sword by the blade, and that enemy all the time striving to wrest it out of your clutch.
3) I shudder with affright O for a two-edged sword to slay outright A wretch like me, Made one with misery.
About his waist he wore a richly-studded belt, in which was stuck a short straight two-edged sword, with a sharp point, so disposed as to hang almost perpendicularly by his side.
He loosed his hold of the spear, and held out both hands before him; but Achilles drew his keen blade, and struck him by the collar-bone on his neck; he plunged his two-edged sword into him to the very hilt, whereon he lay at full length on the ground, with the dark blood welling from him till the earth was soaked.
Nay, thou know'st it not, And all unwitting art a double foe To thine own kin, the living and the dead; Aye and the dogging curse of mother and sire One day shall drive thee, like a two-edged sword, Beyond our borders, and the eyes that now See clear shall henceforward endless night.
But, in course of time, they got accustomed to honest labor, and had sense enough to feel that there was more true enjoyment in living at peace, and doing good to one's neighbor, than in striking at him with a two-edged sword. It may not be too much to hope that the rest of mankind will by and by grow as wise and peaceable as these five earth-begrimed warriors, who sprang from the dragon's teeth.
Now gallants tap their two-edged swords, And pride and passion swell amain; Like red stars flashing through the night The circling wine-cups brim again.
He was somewhat instinctive in his likes and dislikes, and from the first he most heartily disliked the room itself,--its vague perfumes, its subdued violet coloring, the faces of the grinning idols, which seemed to meet his gaze in every direction, the pictures of those fierce-looking warriors who brandished two-edged swords at him from the walls.
The forthright admission by Jesus of the divisive effect of His word, like a two-edged sword (Hebrew 4:12), on family life shows his unflinching approach; no soft-pedaling what is really involved in following Him.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
The minister also commented on the impact of President Buhari's suspension from office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, an indigene of Cross River state, saying that it is a two-edged sword.
It's difficult to ignore though that nuclear power is a two-edged sword because this same energy source has the potential to change the planet overnight by making the most destructive weapons to exist in history.
Trump pressure on the Fed to cool it on tightening is a two-edged sword, since it could backfire, though unlikely to alter the path of rates for now.
Technology, however, is a two-edged sword. For every Jekyll, there's a Hyde.