Cliche of the Week 54 – Foregone Conclusion

As the anticipated dark clouds of gloom gather closer, it appears we believe that bad times are a foregone conclusion.

While not all futures are negative, we believe in foregone conclusions when it comes to sport, politics and the corporate world.

"Foregone conclusion" has consistently been used in the world's mainstream media up to 650 times a month in the past two years.

Five years ago, "foregone conclusion" surfaced in reporting half as many times as today.

"We don't get many chances to root for a team for which the regular season is a formality and the playoffs are a foregone conclusion." (Philadelphia Daily News, July 13)

"The Democrats eight-point lead also is far below the 25-point margin Mrs Harman ran up in her last election, and few consider Tuesdays result a foregone conclusion." (The Washington Times, July 13)

"But Prof Kumar is adamant that the establishment of a fourth campus is no foregone conclusion." (Financial Times, July 11)

"Regardless of his final decision, the growth of FIFO workforces in Queensland is a foregone conclusion." (The Courier-Mail, July 11)

"Lorenzo Meyer, a political scientist at the College of Mexico, said that while the vote in Mexico state seemed a foregone conclusion, the presidential election was not." (Reuters, July 2)

Cliche of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays.

 Chris Pash's book, The Last Whale, a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008)