# etymology of and that is all she wrote

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-and-that-is-all-she-wrote/160782>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 12, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-and-that-is-all-she-wrote/160782 "2003-03-12T07:52:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ScottHaneda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@ScottHaneda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScottHaneda)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-and-that-is-all-she-wrote/160782/1 "2003-03-12T07:52:11Z")

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what is the etymology of “and that is all she wrote” ?

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**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/etymology-of-and-that-is-all-she-wrote/160782/2 "2003-03-12T12:54:28Z")

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Well, according to The Word Detective, it comes from the ‘Dear John’ letters that GIs in WWII sometimes received from their wives or girlfriends announcing that the relationship was over: “Dear John: It’s over. Mary.” No reason, no apologies, no chance or getting back. That was all she wrote.

[http://www.word-detective.com/100699.html#allshewrote](http://www.word-detective.com/100699.html#allshewrote)