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Reader question: Please explain “final curtain will fully fall” in this sentence: “I’ve set the commenting period to expire on all current posts 14 days after publication, so that’s when the final curtain will fully fall.” My comments: In other words, you’ve got two weeks to post a comment on a story. After 14 days, comments will cease to be allowed. Here, the speaker likens the commenting period to a drama in theater, where you see a giant curtain, a large piece of heavy cloth, rise and fall. In theater, before each act, the curtain is raised for the audience to watch the play. After each act, the curtain is lowered again to the floor. Behind the curtain, actors and actresses make changes and prepare for the next act, but the audiences won’t be able to see any of this because their view is blocked by the curtain. When the next act begins, the curtain rises again. Needless to say, after the final or last act, the curtain falls for the last time. That’s the final curtain, signaling that the whole show is over. The end, in other words. So, in short, the final curtain coming down means metaphorically that some event, usually a lengthy one that’s been going on for some time, is coming to an end, or to use theater terminology again, drawing to a close. Here are media examples of the curtain falling or coming down in the theater and elsewhere: | 
