The writing is on the wall

How it is used

Informal and strongly negative. Treat it as an interpretation of warning signs, not a neutral statement that the future is certain.

Example sentences

1. With orders falling for a year, some employees believe the writing is on the wall for the branch.

   Employees interpret a sustained decline as a warning about the branch's future.

2. Do not say the writing is on the wall based on one weak month; examine the longer trend.

   The speaker challenges a dramatic conclusion drawn from limited evidence.

Common collocations

• believe the writing is on the wall
• say the writing is on the wall

Related terms

• forecastA statement of what is expected to happen in the future, especially to sales, costs or demand, based on current data and trends.
• figuresNumbers that show amounts, results or statistics, especially official numbers about sales, costs or performance.

More terms: Office Idioms and Phrases

• touch base
• heads-up
• on the same page
• keep me posted
• ballpark figure
• bandwidth
• circle back
• low-hanging fruit
• get the ball rolling
• back to the drawing board
• drop the ball
• on my radar