drop the other shoe
idiomatic phrase

- if someone drops the other shoe, they complete a task by doing the second and final part of it

- anticipating an inevitable event, often with a negative connotation

The Farlex Free Dictionary / Merriam-Webster

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The phrase “drop the other shoe” seems to have been known for most of the 20th century. A cartoon on the 15th February 1943 about Hitler appeared in the New York World-Telegram was entitled “Waiting for That Other Shoe to Drop!”

The original source, from the early 20th century, centers around the tenements of New York City where apartments were built with bedrooms on top of one another. It was common to hear your upstairs neighbor take off a shoe, drop it, and then repeat the action. Thus the phrase became shorthand for waiting for something you knew was coming.

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REFLECTIONS ON PATIENCE

While you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop,… some nice quotations about patience to ponder:

- “He that can have patience can have what he will." – Benjamin Franklin

- “Our patience will achieve more than our force." – Edmund Burke

- “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." – Leo Tolstoy

- “Patience is the art of concealing your impatience." - Guy Kawasaki

- “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet." – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

- “Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it's how we behave while we're waiting." – Joyce Meyer

- “Patience is the ability to count down before you blast off." – Unknown

- “Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead." – Mac McCleary

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SYNONYMS

add the final piece, bring home the bacon, bring it home (to a close, to fruition), cap it off, clinch the deal, close the loop (the book on), complete the circle, cross the finish line, deliver the goods, dot the i's and cross the t's, DROP THE OTHER SHOE, end the suspense, fill in the last blank, finalize, finish the job, get it done (over with), give it the final polish (the finishing touch), go the distance (all the way), hammer the last nail, hit the bullseye, land the plane, make it whole, place the capstone, put a bow on it, put paid to, put the cherry on top (the final touches), reach the end zone, seal the deal, see it through, sign it off, take it all the way, tie a ribbon on it (up loose ends), top it off, turn the final page, wrap it up, write the last chapter

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a sentence, say something like:

“They made a promise, but I’m waiting for THE OTHER SHOE TO DROP!”

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