that's all she wrote
Meaning: That is the end of it; there is nothing more.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “The referee blew the whistle, and that's all she wrote.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Found in American newspapers in the 1930s (a 1935 example is known), and popularized by a 1942 country song recorded by Ernest Tubb. The tale that it began with soldiers' "Dear John" letters is unproven.
Equivalents in other languages
- French: C'est la fin des haricots — literally: It's the end of the beans
More idioms — Daily Life
- the butt of the joke — The person everyone laughs at or makes fun of.
- roll in the hay — To have casual sex.
- pull an all-nighter — To stay up all night, usually to study or work.
- the gospel truth — Something absolutely true.
- sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me — Insults cannot really harm you, so they are best ignored.
- know someone in the biblical sense — To have had sex with someone.
More English idioms
- Aunt Flo is visiting — A euphemism for having one's menstrual period.
- thick as a brick — Very stupid.
- shed light on — To help explain something or make it clearer.
- laugh one's head off — To laugh very loudly and for a long time.
- blow a gale — Of the wind: to blow extremely hard.
- drunk as a skunk — Extremely drunk.
From our false friends
- Sensible — Actually means 'sensitive'. For sensible/level-headed, say raisonnable.
- Librairie — Actually means 'bookshop'. A library is une bibliothèque.
- Constipado — Actually means 'having a head cold'. Estoy constipado = I have a cold.