A: All the social media companies are trying to read the runes to see what the next big thing will be. B: Indeed, but most trends are impossible to predict. Note: This idiom, of British origin, means “trying to forecast the outcome of a situation by analyzing all the significant factors involved.” The runes were an ancient Germanic alphabet once used in northern Europe, including northern Germany and Scandinavian countries today. Each character was supposed to have a secret magical significance, symbolizing fertility, energy, good news, wisdom, misfortune and other things. Small stones and pieces of bone engraved with these characters were used to foretell the future. If you read the runes, you decide what is likely to happen in the future by considering what is happening now. |