Meaning:
A foregone conclusion is a decision made before the evidence for or against
it is known. Literally, it is a conclusion which is inevitable because the
result has been decided beforehand (or `afore').
Background:
From Shakespeare's Othello, 1604:
OTHELLO:
But this denoted a foregone conclusion:
`Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream.
What Othello is saying is that he is certain that his wife has been
unfaithful to him because his dreaming of it signified that it had already
happened - that is, it was `foregone,' not evidence that would stand up in
court, but good enough for Othello.
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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It can take a long time to overcome ideas taken for granted in a different
culture. Westerners, especially those from a Protestant background, try to keep
personal and business lives apart like oil and water, a form of self-protection
just as in China, folks try to mix them up for the same purpose. One thing I learned
here in North America was that cold fishes often do not have anything against me,
contrary to the foregone conclusion I tend to draw just because they appear stiff.
