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all over but the shouting

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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RELATED WORDS

sweeping, perfect, full, entire, realized, executed, down, ended, accomplished, done, consummate, effected, concluded, attained, all-inclusive, full-fledged, plenary, through, all-embracing, fini

Nearby words

all on, all one, all out, all outdoors, big as, all over, all over but the shouting, all over one, all over the place, all over with, all present and accounted for, all quiet on the western front
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.