Your long-awaited summer holiday is likely just around the corner. But before you pack away your textbooks and switch fully into holiday mode, here are some common English phrases to help you bring down the curtain and sign off from the academic year in style.
Wrap (something) up
Meaning: to bring something, such as a project, event or period of time, to a definitive conclusion, usually by successfully finishing it. The phrase comes from the physical act of wrapping an item in paper or cloth before completing a transaction or storing the item away.
Example: Our teacher will wrap up the lesson by handing out the summer reading list.
Cross the finish line
Meaning: to finally complete a long, arduous and exhausting task. This metaphor comes from competitive long-distance running and is particularly useful for describing major academic milestones where the final stretch requires the most stamina.
Example: After three weeks of intense revision and stressful examinations, the Form Six students will finally cross the finish line.
Call it a day
Meaning: to officially stop working or cease activities for the time being. It comes from the phrase “call it half a day,” used in the 1800s by workers leaving their shifts early. It eventually evolved to signify the definitive end of a workday.
Example: It’s the last Monday before the end of the term. Let’s just call it a day and finish this tomorrow.
Save the best for last
Meaning: to purposefully withhold the most exciting, rewarding or impressive part of something until the very end. This is a standard structural idiom used to describe ensuring an experience ends on a high note.
Example: The school saved the best for last by scheduling the inter-house talent show on the final afternoon of the term.
In the offing
Meaning: imminent; likely to happen or appear very soon. This is a nautical term, where “the offing” refers to a distant part of the sea visible from the shore. If a ship was spotted “in the offing”, it meant the vessel would arrive at the port shortly.
Example: With textbooks returned and the classroom cleared, our summer respite is finally in the offing.
Bring down the curtain
Meaning: to bring something to an official or formal end. This expression comes from the theatre, referring to the lowering or closing of a heavy stage curtain to signal the conclusion of a dramatic performance.
Example: And with her final assembly speech, the principal will bring down the curtain on another demanding academic year.
