all over but the shouting
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The outcome is a certainty, as in When Jim hit the ball over the fence, it was all over but the shouting. The term's first use in print, in 1842, was by Welsh sportswriter Charles James Apperley, but some authorities believe it originated even earlier in the United States for a close political race. Today it is applied to any contest. A common British version is all over bar the shouting.
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QUIZ YOURSELF ON "IS" VS. "ARE"
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IS and ARE are both forms of which verb?
Words nearby all over but the shouting
allottee, allotype, all-out, all outdoors, big as, allover, all over but the shouting, all over one, all-overs, all over the place, all over with, allow
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.