moment of truth

Fig. the point at which someone has to face the reality of a situation. The moment of truth is here. Turn over your exam papers and begin. Now for the moment of truth when we find out whether we have got planning permission or not.

A critical or decisive time, at which one is put to the ultimate test, as in Now that all the bills are in, we've come to the moment of truth-can we afford to live here or not? This expression, a translation of the Spanish el momento de la verdad, signifies the point in a bullfight when the matador makes the kill. It was first used in English in Ernest Hemingway's story Death in the Afternoon (1932).

A crucial test. Unless a matador is injured or loses his nerve before the end of a bullfight, the climax comes when he reaches over the horns to plunge his sword behind the animal's neck. The matador is then at his most vulnerable, since the bull need only raise its head to gore the man. This “moment of truth” when a matador reveals whether he has sufficient courage is a literal translation of the Spanish phrase for that point in time. By extension, any situation in which a person is called on to show “the right stuff ” can be called the moment of truth.