the show must go on en · X
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Originated in the 19th-century circus industry.
Meanings
-
(literally) Regardless of what happens, whatever show has been planned still has to be staged for the waiting patrons.
Two other very personal issues that Holly discloses are her ongoing struggle to maintain a weight she feels comfortable with, and her virtual breakdown from exhaustion in 1984. Her "the show must go on" martyrdom attitude was painful to read, for her stress-related problems demonstrate the irony that idealistic activists often live exactly the overworked, underpaid life they are hoping to end for everyone.
1990 December 9, Maida Tilchen, “Closer To Near”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 21, page 14:
- (idiomatic) One must finish what one has started; things must continue no matter what.
Relateds
Translations (6)
ru шоу должно продолжаться (One must finish what one has started.) · eo la spektaklo devas daŭri (One must finish what one has started.) · es la función debe continuar (One must finish what one has started.) · pt o espetáculo deve continuar (One must finish what one has started.) · fr le spectacle doit continuer (One must finish what one has started.) · pl przedstawienie musi trwać (One must finish what one has started.)