all over but the shouting

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.

Example Sentences

By the time you read this, it may be all over but the shouting or we may have already embarked on yet another House GOP spectacle as they struggle to cobble together a majority to elect someone to the most powerful job in the House of Representatives — again.

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Looks like it’s all over but the shouting.

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When Justice Anthony Kennedy cynically retired the next year so that the Republicans could solidify their hard core majority by installing a political hack by the name of Brett Kavanaugh, it was all over but the shouting.

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With much of the state and nation having already voted, it feels like Election 2020 is all over but the shouting.

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And at that point, it was all over but the shouting.

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Related Words

• entire 
• full 
• perfect 
• sweeping