the writing on the wall

los augurios, lo que se veía venir

• I saw the writing on the wall and left before the company collapsed.
• The team's poor performance was the writing on the wall for the coach's future.
• When the sales figures dropped, we all saw the writing on the wall for the product line.

This idiom is used to indicate that there are clear signs something is going to fail or change. It is common in both speech and writing and is used in situations where negative outcomes are evident to those who pay attention. It ranges from neutral to formal in register.

A common mistake is to translate it literally from the Spanish 'la escritura en la pared', which does not make sense in English. It is also easy to misuse it in contexts where there is no imminent change or obvious failure.

• throw caution to the wind
  lanzarse sin pensar, dejar de lado la cautela
• wrap your head around (something)
  hacerse a la idea, entender algo complejo
• pull the rug out (from under someone)
  dejar a alguien tirado, retirar el apoyo de golpe
• go against the grain
  ir a contracorriente