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Colorín, Colorado, este cuento se ha acabado is a Spanish phrase used to indicate that a story has reached its end. The first part is just nonsense, the second part means 'this story is over.'

We use a similar phrase in Tamil, கதை முடிந்தது கத்திரிக்காய் காச்சத்து. It means, literally, 'the story is over, the eggplant is ripe'.

Is there an equivalent, semi-nonsensical phrase in English used by storytellers to tell their listeners that the story is over?

I can't think of anything besides the not-always-applicable ...and they all lived happily ever after, which isn't nonsensical, and I couldn't find any useful translations of the Spanish phrase anywhere online either.

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    This sounds sort of like tomayto / tomahto (for *tomato): Wiktionary: (idiomatic) Used to dismissively suggest that something is a distinction without a difference. In the Spanish it seems like Red or red, this story is read.
    – Tinfoil Hat
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 2:55
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    I believe that Writing.SE is far more appropriate for this question. It's very much opinion-based.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 11:13
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    @EdwinAshworth I disagree. This question is a phrase request, which is not a good fit for Writing.
    – Laurel ♦
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 12:44
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    In Spanish, OP's phrase is meant to be spoken (at least where I live in Chile). It isn't literary. I bet you a nickel the Tamil phrase also rhymes (I can only see little boxes in stead of Tamil writing, which I don't know how to read anyhow) and is often used at the end of a bedtime story. I'm with @Laurel: this question belongs here.
    – Conrado
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 14:30
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    The Hungarian version is itt a vége, fuss el véle "here is the end, [you should] run away with it". Like everyone else, I don't know of an English version, at least not one that rhymes.
    – Marthaª
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 18:04

10 Answers 10

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There is a rhyming phrase that can be considered an equivalent phrase in English, used in story endings:

Snip, snap, snout, This tale's told out.

One of the sources where it is mentioned is a blog post of a fairy tales enthusiast and some other lesser known or one-off phrases are mentioned also: writinginmargins.weebly.com

Everyone knows the standard opening and closing formulas, from "Once upon a time " to "happily ever after." But "happily ever after" is not the only way to conclude a tale.

I'm fond of "Snip, snap, snout, This tale's told out," or the Spanish equivalent: "Colorín, colorado, Este cuento se ha acabado." (This story is over.) Some folktales from the Hausa people of Africa conclude with the phrase "Off with the rat's head."

Note: I don't know how common this phrase is but it is mentioned in many sources. It was used in a Norwegian fairy tale called "Three Billy Goats Gruff", possibly in the English translation published as "Popular Tales from the Norse" first per some sources. I believe other fairy tales may have used it also. The OP's intention is finding a rhyming phrase with a meaningless first part used at the end of stories, and a fairy tale enthusiast mentions this phrase as an equivalent of the Spanish phrase.

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    Is that an American English thing? It's not any part of British English story endings that I'm aware of, and I'm not sure that page considers it to be common usage.
    – Graham
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 15:48
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    @Graham Not an American thing. Never heard of it.
    – OpenAI was the last straw
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 15:59
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    I don't recognize that one at all. That doesn't mean I've never heard it, but I don't accept that it has been more than regionally common (in what region I don't know) over the last fifty or so years.
    – John Bollinger
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 19:24
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    This is very close to the Swedish version "Snipp, snapp, snut. Så var sagan slut.", which is used exactly like the Spanish one, so I guess this could be of Scandinavian origin.
    – jkej
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 23:51
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    @B.Goddard I think the "The Runaway Pancake" may also be one of the Norwegian Folktales collected and published by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, just like "Three Billy Goats Gruff" mentioned by ermanen. It's listed as number 104 in the Wikipedia article with the English title "The Pancake". It may have been Asbjørnsen and Moe who popularized this as an ending to fairy tales, although variants of this rhyme seems to predate them.
    – jkej
    Commented Jul 22, 2023 at 1:01
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The Spanish phrase is a rhyme which evokes childhood memories because many folk stories used to end in that way. Nowadays, in normal speech, it is used in a humorous way to say that something is finished.

In English, there is a phrase that is not a rhyme, but evokes childhood memories and is a humorous way to say "the end". However, it has to do more with cartoons than with books:

That's all folks!
humorous Used to indicate or emphasize that something has finished or concluded. Popularized as the catchphrase featured at the end of episodes in the animated series Looney Tunes, often said aloud by the character Porky Pig.

  • And there's the last bell of the school year! That's all, folks! Enjoy your summer vacation! (FreeDict)
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    Or "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!"
    – Phil Freedenberg
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 16:05
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    I wouldn't be surprised if this has been supplanted by "thanks for coming to my TED talk" these days. I'm curious about how many people 25 and under would even get "That's all folks!" beyond intuition and not the reference itself
    – roganjosh
    Commented Jul 21, 2023 at 16:55
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    @roganjosh It’s not like children aren’t still watching the old classic cartoons. Even here in Scandinavia, they still regularly show Looney Tunes on telly, and kids still happily watch it. I think a lot more young people would be familiar with “That’s all folks!” than with “Thanks for coming to my TED talk”, especially children.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Jul 23, 2023 at 10:50
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There isn't any widely used phrase. As for something lesser known, the ending of The Iron Stove by the Brothers Grimm fits the format, even matching the rhyme from the Spanish:

A mouse did run,
The story is done.

Just like both the Tamil and Spanish phrases, this is a non-sequitur: There is no mouse in the story.

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No, there isn't.

As you correctly state, the traditional ending that fulfils the same role in English is "... and they all lived happily ever after". While there are other endings that follow a similar form in English they are all only occasionally used.

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One common trope is to briefly mention further events in the protagonists' lives, and then to say

But that's another story.

In the tradition of oral storytelling, this sets up expectations for future stories. But it also tells the listener that the current story is over.

I would not say that this is exactly equivalent to a conventional nonsense phrase at the end of a story though.

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This is not English, but many people in Ireland who are essentially monolingual English speakers will still have some words and phrases of Irish, and will use them occasionally. Folk tales in Irish traditionally end with sin é (that's it), and this phrase is definitely found in Hiberno-English.

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The End

Many books have this ending, short and sweet.

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A Dream/Not the End

It's not a "classic" like happily ever after but for a while I read stories with "and it was all a dream" or "and then I woke up". Giving people the sense that everything the character went through was simply a dream.

Also, read alot of "this is not the end" or "this/their/the story has just begun". This is straight forward and probably what gave way to many a series. But I've also seen it used for standalone books too.

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You mentioned

They lived happily ever after.

You can play around with this fixed phrase, for example

"they lived happily ever after (for a while.)"

See also this ironic example from Nadine Gorimer:

"in the house where they were living happily ever after they now saw the trees and sky through bars."

.

Equally common is just

The end

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My reply will be simply anecdotal, for lack of any phrase that legitimately satisfies your question. I don't believe there is one. From my 50 years reading to children, being a literacy tutor, and listening to storytellers whenever possible, I don't recall ever hearing a nonsensical rhyme to end a tale.

For my children at bedtime, we always finished story time with this:

Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep May angels watch me through the night And keep me in their bless-ed sight Amen (Hug and a kiss on the forehead with a tuck-in and, "Sweet dreams, my sweetheart. I love you, infinity times forever".)

They're all grown up now. Thank you for bringing that back to mind.

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