handwriting on the wall

Idioms  

1. Also, writing on the wall. A warning or presentiment of danger, as in The company was losing money, and seeing the handwriting on the wall, she started to look for another job. This expression comes from the Bible (Daniel 5:5–31), in which the prophet interprets some mysterious writing that a disembodied hand has inscribed on the palace wall, telling King Belshazzar that he will be overthrown.

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Example Sentences

The transfer to Turkey happened, Eugen Merzbacher told me, because his father’s bosses “saw the handwriting on the wall.”

From Los Angeles Times

Once the Texas Supreme Court issued its stay last Friday, Ms. Cox saw the handwriting on the wall.

From Salon

But they could read the handwriting on the wall from the UAW’s contract settlements.

From Los Angeles Times

“With my requests for transfers to career-enhancing squads consistently denied, my credibility and competency constantly questioned, and the common use of racial epithets in my presence,” she wrote, “I saw the handwriting on the wall: Because of my race I would never be allowed to have a successful career in the Secret Service.”

From Washington Post

Michael Cohen saw the handwriting on the wall.

From Salon