The moment of truth

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on December 08, 2005

In Reply to: The moment of truth posted by Marky Mark on December 07, 2005

: How do use the phrase " the moment of truth"? When can we say it??
It's a bullfighting term, a translation of the Spanish "el momento de la verdad". To end a bullfight, the matador takes his sword and must get the bull to charge straight at him, so that he can lean over the bull's horns and kill him by stabbing just behind the back of the head. Many matadors can do very graceful and artistic moves with the cape and the maleta (the red cloth-on-a stick used to lure the bull) but lack the nerve to do the final killing properly. The "moment of truth" is when he and the audience find out if he really has what it takes. So you could use the phrase figuratively in any analogous situation, where someone or something is put to an important test.