Is there an idiom for "Your decision can change at the last moment"

Question

In Turkish there is an idiom for this that says:

When the bride is going to wedding place, she says "let's see what happens"

This means people's choices can change at the very last moment and that this is normal.

Is there an English idiom for this?

Answer 1

Just to cite a saying with another lady, you may say:

It's not over until the fat lady sings

• used for saying that it is still possible for a situation to change, (also at the very last moment.)

(Cambridge Dictionary)

Answer 2

Here are some common idioms that imply that people's choices can change at the very last moment:

Play it by ear

This implies that a decision will be made when it needs to be made, not before. It is often used to imply that the decision will be based on information that is not currently available, but may be available when the decision needs to be made. As in: “I understand,” said Mr. Hardy. “How much time do we have?” The sergeant looked doubtful. “Don't know. We'll play it by ear.” (from the Hardy Boys 27: The Secret of Skull Mountain By Franklin W. Dixon).

Not carved in stone

-or-

Not set in stone

This implies that a decision has been made, but may be changed. As in: Mind you, my decision is not set in stone. This idiom is used in other situations (such as rules, relationships customs, memories, schedules, etc.) The first use I could find where this phrase was used metaphorically is by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist: But they had recognised him, and he them; and their look was as firmly impressed upon his memory as if it had been deeply carved in stone, and set before him from his birth.

Up in the air

This implies that the decision has not be made, even though the information that needs to be considered is available. This idiom can be used for decisions that may be difficult to make, or the person making the decision needs more time to think. As in: Do we vacation at the beach or the mountains this year? I am up in the air about this.. I can also mean that one is feeling, well, high, as this excerpt from the autobiography of Nat Love: ...I was feeling up in the air caused no doubt partly from the effects of love... right before he decides to try to lasso a steam locomotive.

Answer 3

This tautology is also common:

it ain't over till it's over (TFD)

The final outcome cannot be assumed or determined until a given situation, event, etc., is completely finished. Usually used in reference to organized competitions, such as sporting events, political elections, and the like.

Edit:

As noted in the comments, it's worth pointing out that this expression was coined by Yogi Berra, an American baseball player who was famous for his pearls of wisdom, a.k.a. "yogi-isms" (wiki).

Answer 4

Don't count your chickens before they're hatched

meaning:

Don't make plans based on future events that might not happen

Answer 5

English has several idioms about the possibility that the situation might change unexpectedly, but not many that focus specifically on people changing their already-made decisions. I think the closest analogue to your idiom may be

It's (a woman's) prerogative to change (her) mind.

Like the Turkish phrase, this likely originally referred specifically to decisions about marriage, since in common law an affianced man could be sued for breach of promise for backing out of the engagement, but betrothed women generally weren't similarly legally constrained. See Wikipedia for a discussion.

Nowadays, it's just used to mean that people can change their minds, and the phrase can change to suit the situation: "it's my prerogative to change my mind" or "it's a person's prerogative to change his/her/their/one's mind" and so forth. Some examples of the extended usage of the maxim:

To be sure, many of the government's more publicly successful ventures, free trade being a notable example, were surprising (and somewhat hypocritical) carry-overs . . . . Governments, after all, retain the prerogative to change their mind.
—Dean Oliver, "Foreign affairs and national defence", Canadian Annual Review of politics and public affairs, 1994, ed. David Leyton-Brown

It is the referee's prerogative to change his mind provided the next shot hasn't been played, and the video playback seems to vindicate the referee's decision to review the shot.
—Anonymous comment on "Williams Blasts Williams", Snooker Scene Blog, 11.9.11

If Google has taught us anything over the years, it's that it has the prerogative to change its mind about what ranks best in search results.
—Amanda Pressner Kreuser, "This New Study Cracks Google's Algorithm for 2018 (Here's What's At the Top of the List)", Inc.com, Jan 30, 2018

Answer 6

A common idiom is We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.  Its meaning is fairly literal: we defer that decision until the moment when we need to act on it.  Reasons for saying this could include

• The decision is technically difficult.  For example, we have to cross a river, and we can’t swim.
• The decision is emotionally difficult.  For example, we expect to find a boat on the shore, but we expect that it will be too small to carry all of us, so we’ll need to leave somebody behind.  (Never mind the logistic possibility of making multiple trips.  Perhaps the river is passable in only one direction; perhaps time constraints prohibit multiple trips.)
• When the time comes, we might not need to have a decision.  For example, the river level might have fallen to the point where we can walk across.  Or somebody might die before we get to the river, so we have a small enough company that we can all fit into the boat.
• The time might not come at all.  For example, we might take another route and avoid the river altogether.

Answer 7

To quote Richard Marx,

”It don't mean nothin’

‘Til you sign it on the dotted line.”

—Richard Marx, “Don’t Mean Nothing” (1987)

Answer 8

I don't want to commit myself to an answer until I see which way the wind blows.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/amp/english/way-direction-the-wind-blows

This often comes up when someone who is highly concerned about popular opinion wants to be on the side of an argument that has more supporters. (Politics, teenager social cliques, workplace technical arguments, etc.)

This is more deliberate than just being fickle-minded and prone to changing one"s mind lightly.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/fickle-minded

Answer 9

The idiom that springs to mind is to turn on a dime.

While this is inherently American based on the currency (dime being 10 cents), I've heard it used here in Britain before as well.

"If something or someone turns on a dime, they suddenly change completely or do something completely different from what they were doing before. Employers need to be flexible and to turn on a dime in order to stay competitive. Note: The idea is of being able to change direction quickly and easily in a very small space, as if your foot were on a coin."

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

Answer 10

Among computer programmers, I have heard "late binding" used as a general metaphor (including in real life) for "decision can be made at the last moment". This term literally means:

Late Binding: type is unknown until the variable is exercised during run-time

EDIT: To back up that this metaphor has been used for human decisions, see here:

The firm believe it’s important to view procrastination from all perspectives, including the approach taken in computer science, commonly referred to as ‘Late Binding’. Late binding is the process of leaving decisions till as late as possible ...

Leaving decisions to the last minute can often open up a wide range of alternatives to businesses.

and here:

... Ozzie did not present the concept of late binding within the context of big data. In fact, the discussion in which the concept arose centered around competing social communication tools and at which point organizations should standardize on one product in that category. Ozzie’s recommendation: don’t bind too early.

In other words, don’t rush to commit. Play the field. Use lots of tools and see which works best, for the greatest number of business units, and then make a decision.

Answer 11

Others have already covered most of the 'just waaaaiit for iiiiit...' idioms that are most common in English right now. The idiom for precisely the occasion being mentioned in Turkish, though, is

cold feet

A bride 'with cold feet' or a groom who 'gets cold feet' may jilt their fiancé(e) and leave them waiting at the altar.

Per Slate, Ben Jonson calqued 'cold feet' from an Italian idiom (freddo ai piedi, 'cold in the feet') about running low on cash that showed up in discussions of desperate, hard-up traders & gamblers. Stephan Crane repopularized it 300 years later in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, where it had its modern sense of lost ardor and whence it became college slang and an imprecation against those hesitant to feed the idiocy of the First World War.

Usually you'd caution against getting cold feet (don't change your opinion at the moment) or comfort someone that 'people get cold feet all the time.'

---

Edit: Oh, I see a couple are still missing.

Keep one's options open

to avoid committing oneself.

Mr. Callaghan... is understood to have reserved his decision—or, in the current jargon, ‘kept his options open’. (The Guardian, 14 May 1969)

.

Church ain't out till they quit singin'

or many, many variations.

(Southern US) It ain't over till the fat lady sings.

As long as the organ is playing, church is not out. (The Daily Picayune, 17 October 1872)

Church is never out till the people get through singing... (The Fort Worth Gazette, 17 August 1894)

Church isn’t over until the choir stops singing. Anything can happen. (The Baltimore Sun, 1976)

.

It ain't over yet.

(Southern US) It ain't over till it's over.

.

While there is life, there is hope

or, 'Where there is life, there is hope'.

Things can change.

It is said that, for the sick, while there is breath, there is hope. (Cicero, Letters to Atticus IX.x.3)

Were one only permitted to live, there would be hope. (P. Terentius Afer, The Self-Tormentor)

While there's life there is hope, and only the dead have none. (Theocritus, Idylls iv.42)

Answer 12

A phrase I’ve heard (on the U.S. east coast) is “we’ll make that decision in real time.”  This means pretty much the same thing as several of the other answers: we’ll make that decision at the moment when we need to act on it.  This would typically be used in a situation where we expect to have better information later than we do now.  For example:

Employee: Should I attend the entire conference?

Boss: Attend the first day and see whether you’re learning anything useful.  Then make the decision in real time.

Answer 13

Since the title of your question is ''Your decision can change at the last moment'' and your question mentions a wedding, it's worth mentioning:

I'm not married to this decision

which means that your are open to change.

Answer 14

Why not something as simple as…

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

The initial part of the definition is nightly negative and states:

I highly doubt that could happen or is the case.

But the second, deeper part seems to fit the bill exactly:

The phrase implies that one would need to witness or see proof of such a thing to believe it.

Answer 15

Another one is that a decision can "change on a dime"

Answer 16

"game-time decision"

Usually used in sports when the coach or players are not sure about a particular strategy, and want to prolong the decision until the last possible moment (game-time).

But can be used in other settings as well.

For example:

person1: "Where do you wanna eat before the concert tomorrow?"
person2: "Game-time decision?"
person1: "Sure, I guess we don't have to decide right now."

Answer 17

to add a little more

ODD alternatives, that FLIP the concept:

• with good intention

• in good faith

• with intent to

this is Strange, because by adding a positive that brings the parties attitude into play, it actually leaves room for doubt !

• The two are meeting tomorrow to sign the document

vs

• The two are meeting tomorrow in good faith to sign the document.

• The two came to the meeting tomorrow with the intent of signing the document.

I am just adding these as I'm not sure exactly what the cultural meaning of the OP idiom means. As it is translated it seems very callous and almost with very little desire .. a step short well short of "we never know what fate might produce tomorrow" or something ?