“That sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
You have a week-long conference that you're supposed to go to for work. But you're worried about leaving your family at home without you. Your husband says that he can take care of the kids by himself. You say this because you don't think he's very responsible.
That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Want Video and Sound? Follow us on YouTube
That sounds like (adjective/noun)
Use this expression to comment on someone's suggestion:
A: Why don't we go out for pizza?
B: That sounds like fun.
A: Let's call Adele and see if she'd like to help out.
B: That sounds like a great idea.
A: What about 127 Hours? That's the movie about a climber who gets stuck under a rock and ends up having to cut his own arm off.
a recipe for disaster
When there's a situation that seems like it could cause big problems, you can call the situation "a recipe for disaster".
This is often expressed in the form "(doing something) is a recipe for disaster":
Leaving security in the hands of multiple air carriers was a recipe for disaster.
Giving former corporate executives high-powered jobs in the government agencies that regulate those industries is a surefire recipe for disaster.
When you're cooking something, a "recipe" lists several different ingredients. In the same way, a "recipe for disaster" often means that there are several small risks which add up to a very dangerous or annoying situation:
The quickly aging population, low rate of immigration, and a younger generation that seems barely interested in working all add up to a recipe for disaster for Japan's economic future.