there's no telling

1. It's impossible to determine, as in There's no telling how many children will come down with measles, or There's no telling what will happen in the next episode of that soap opera. This idiom uses telling in the sense of “reckoning,” a usage dating from the late 1300s.

Example Sentences

“It’s your long-lost ma and pa, and now you tell me these three precious children are Lumleys, too! I don’t know what to say, except providence is kind, and we oughtn’t ever lose hope, for there’s no telling what the next hour will bring, is there?”

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But they’re also malleable; there’s no telling what might affect them, or what a child might carry with them throughout their life.

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From Seagate’s and Western Digital’s perspectives, there’s no telling when demand could slow or change, Klein said.

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And while both sides seem to be itching for a fight, there's no telling when, or how, this fight will end.

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But considering how quickly he’s progressed at the position, there’s no telling how fast Fitzgerald’s NFL stock will rise.

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