Listen
Jim Pettiward explains the origin, meaning and use of the expression 'end of' and some other similar expressions. Click below to listen:
When in Rome...
End of
'End of'. Two words. You might have heard someone finish the sentence with this little phrase and wondered if they’d forgotten what they were going to say. ‘We’re not going, end of!’ End of what? End of the debate? End of the sentence? End of the world? Surely that’s not a grammatical way to finish a sentence? The complete phrase is ‘end of story’, which means there is nothing more to discuss. I’m right and you’re wrong. I don’t want to argue with you anymore. ‘I’ve told you already, I can’t lend you the money because I don’t have it! End of.’
Well, this is one example of a phrase, or expression, which becomes so widely used and well-known, such a cliché, that people don’t feel the need to say the whole phrase. They know that other people will understand what they mean, even if they don’t say all the words. Here’s another one… Do you know what I mean if I say ‘When in Rome…’? This is the first part of a very common expression ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’, meaning, when you go to a different country or region, you should adapt your behaviour to the habits and norms of that place. Now just by saying ‘When in Rome’, people know what we mean.
When did ‘end of story’ become simply ‘end of’? It’s hard to say. I have often heard it used by footballers and D-list celebrities (see ). It’s quite common to hear it on reality TV shows and on some comedy programmes, and it seems to have been only in the last few years that some people have started to drop the ‘story’. You might hear a footballer being interviewed after a game say something like ‘we didn’t create enough chances and didn’t deserve to win the game. End of.’ Nothing more to say. That’s the whole story. Only without the ‘story’.
About Jim Pettiward
Jim Pettiward has a BA (hons) in French and Spanish, CTEFLA and Trinity TESOL Diploma. He has taught EFL, EAP, ESP and Business English in Ecuador, Venezuela, Hungary and the UK. He has also worked as an ICT trainer for the British Council and the University of the Arts, London. He is currently teaching English for Academic Purposes in the Department of Humanities, Arts, Languages and Education at London Metropolitan University.
