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分享一个知识点： Reader question: Could you explain “the writing on the wall” in this sentence - Bill saw the writing on the wall and resigned his job before he was dismissed? My comments: Bill resigned before he was dismissed because he knew he was going to be dismissed anyway. He knew he was in trouble due to his incompetence, poor disciplinary record or, say, the global recession at large. The point is, anything having to do with “the writing on the wall” is doomed. Bill had to go. The expression “writing on the wall” derives from a story in the Christian Bible, Daniel 5:5/6 (King James Version): In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The supernatural handwriting mentioned in the Bible foretold the demise of the Babylonian Empire. “Writing on the wall” hence became synonymous with danger and especially inevitable doom or failure. Anytime anyone says “the writing is on the wall”, they see trouble. Look for cover. “Writing in the all” is nowadays used figuratively, of course, with no actual “writing” or “wall” involved. | 
