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that's all she wrote

phrase

Etymology

Unknown; circa 1940s; thought to be a reference to Dear John letters. Ernest Tubb recorded a song titled "That's All She Wrote" (sheet music published in 1942), but earlier printed references exist (e.g. The Brownsville Herald, June 1935).

Definitions

  1. Indicating an abrupt termination of a project, or of one’s hopes or plans.

    • If you see a long yellow streak of all fine smoke / That’s my rocket pulling out, that’s all she wrote / […]
    • There was a note upon my door... I won’t be back no more / That’s all she wrote, "Dear John".
    • […] Goodbye — that’s all she wrote.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for that's all she wrote. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA