What is the origin of the phrase, "That's all she wrote?

" Asked by Snow_Leopard 24 months ago Similar questions: origin phrase wrote Education & Reference > Languages.

I'll venture a guess... I think it was a saying from WWII and it had to do with the proverbial "Dear John" letters that many servicemen received from sweethearts back home ending their relationships. "And that's all she wrote" meant it's over - and that's all she wrote! .

That's all she wrote The origin of "That's all she wrote" (which is how it's usually phrased) is a subject of considerable debate, although the male oppression angle you suspect is almost certainly off the mark. Most theories about "That's all she wrote" actually leave men holding the short end of the stick. "That's all she wrote" is a catch phrase, a kind of popular saying that probably began in reference to a particular situation or was drawn from a specific joke or other context, but which has since taken on a life of its own and is used in a variety of contexts.

When we say "That's all she wrote" today, we mean "that's all there is" or "that's the end of it. " The standard theory about "That's all she wrote" is that it arose during World War II and refers to the "Dear John letters" received by many servicemen from their sweethearts back home bluntly announcing the end of their relationships. Such letters were so common during the war that "That's all she wrote" may have originally been the punch line to a joke: a GI (in some versions, not even named John) receives a letter containing only the salutation "Dear John," with the "It's over" part left unwritten and implicit.

When questioned by his buddies about the rest of the letter's contents, he replies, "That's all she wrote. " When my colleague William Safire explored that theory in print a few years ago, however, he received several letters suggesting that the phrase may have come from a variety of popular American songs about brides abandoned at the altar, or men dumped by their sweethearts. The rupture was invariably communicated by a terse note, leading to the refrain "And that's all she (or he) wrote."

Unfortunately, no one has yet managed to pin down the exact song in which the phrase occurs, so the jury is still out on "That's all she wrote. " Sources: Word Detective .

1 according to ask.yahoo.com/20060403.html it was what the soldiers during WWII said after they received a dear John letter.

According to ask.yahoo.com/20060403.html it was what the soldiers during WWII said after they received a dear John letter.

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I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.