Reader question:
Please explain 「the rest is history」 as in this example: 「He signed the contract, and the rest is history.」 What history?
My comments:
Well known history, that is.
So well known that there is no need to tell it again.
That’s what’s implied when anyone tells you something and right in the middle of it they say 「and the rest is history」 – and conclude their tale right then and there.
They end their story then and there because you the listener already know what happens next.
HISTORY indicates that the rest of the story is in written history, standard history, officially recorded. In other words, it’s probably very well known or it wouldn’t be considered as part of history.
This phrase, a cliché actually as it is used so much, is usually a great way to conclude a lengthy story about someone famous. Usually someone famous, but not always. Anyways, for example, someone knows something, an anecdote, about someone famous. So this someone tells that tale – and ends it with: 「...and the rest, well, is history.」
It’s a great way to end a story because at the moment, the speaker knows that the listeners are hooked to the story and are salivating for more.
And all they mean by 「the rest is history」 is, in sum: You know the rest. I need to say no more.
See?
Good. Alright. No more ado. Here are media examples:
1. What started out as a joke 35 years ago ended with a Massachusetts man paying off his mortgage using 62,000 pennies. 「I』ve never saved anything other than pennies. And it started out as a whim. You know, a penny for the mortgage,」 Thomas Daigle told NBC affiliate WHDH-TV of Boston.
Daigle, from Milford, Mass., recalled how, after signing the mortgage papers 35 years ago, he found a penny on the ground. He and his wife then joked about collecting pennies to pay off the loan -- and the rest is history.
Over the next 35 years, Daigle would roll pennies, 50 cents at a time. His bank found out the hard way just how much work that was -- it reportedly took tellers two days to unroll the penny cases.
- 62,000 pennies used to pay off mortgage, NBCNews.com, July 7, 2012.
2. Possibly Scotland’s most famous invention, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone is a controversial one – because many people maintain that he 「stole」 the idea from American inventor Elisha Gray, or at least came up with it later.
Whatever the truth, Bell succeeded in getting the patent, and the rest is history. And there’s no denying he was a scientific genius, racking up patents for the photophone and wax phonograph, and creating an induction balance metal detector – in a bid to save the life of US President James Garfield from an assassin’s bullet.
Bell’s mind would』ve been well and truly boggled by modern smartphones, but his telephone was the starting point. Oh, and Gray is generally credited with inventing the music synthesiser, so don’t feel too bad for him and his legacy.
- The greatest Scottish inventions, Stuff.tv, January 25, 2013.
3. She found the treasure – and the rest is history.
Amanda Keller and Jacob Garrett kept crossing paths. They first met through her job at First Citizens Bank, where Garrett was a frequent client. Then, the couple ended up at the same venues around Emerald Isle.
They started dating in 2011.
Keller, a graduate of Lejeune High School, said she knew early on that he would be her happily ever after. Garrett, who graduated from White Oak High School, said he fell in love with Amanda and her daughter, Cali – who was in diapers when they met.
「I love them both so much. I am marrying both ladies,」 Garrett said.
Throughout their relationship, Garrett said, one of Keller’s favorite things was to look for 「treasures」 on the beach. They would go out after hurricanes and comb the sands.
That became the inspiration for his proposal.
「We always joked about finding treasure,」 Garrett said. 「I had a custom treasure box made. Inside, I had our initials carved in with the date I was going to propose to her.」
On the first night of a family vacation to Turks and Caicos, he asked Keller to go for a stroll on the beach
As the sun was getting ready to set, he steered her to the spot where he knew the treasure box was hidden. He got down on a bended knee and helped dig up the box.
With family hiding at a distance, Garrett asked her to be his wife.
- Treasured proposal at heart of wedding proposal, StarNewsOnline.com, April 12, 2015.
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About the author:
Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.
（作者張欣 中國日報網英語點津 編輯：陳丹妮）