all over but the shouting

Idioms  

1. 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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Example Sentences

Looks like it’s all over but the shouting.

From Slate • Jul. 18, 2024

Now that work on the relief bill is all over but the shouting, Congress is preparing to leave town and shelter in place along with their constituents.

From Washington Post • Mar. 26, 2020

By 10:15 A.M., when Sondland finished reading out his twenty-three-page opening statement, it was all over but the shouting, of which there would be much over the next seven hours.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 20, 2019

It’s all over but the shouting — and there definitely could be some raised voices.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2017

The next time anyone says to you that this war is "in the bag," or says "it's all over but the shouting," you should ask him these questions:

From The Fireside Chats of Franklin Delano Roosevelt by Roosevelt, Franklin Delano

Related Words

• entire
• full
• perfect
• sweeping