a portent of things to come

a portent of things to come

Something that is indicative of what will happen or become popular in the future. I think this trend is a portent of things to come, but there's no way to know for sure.
See also: come, of, portent, thing
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • portent
  • harbinger
  • harbinger of things to come
  • a harbinger of things to come
  • be the shape of things to come
  • a sign of things to come
  • a straw will show which way the wind blows
  • he who gives fair words feeds you with an empty spoon
  • feel out of things
  • say a lot about (something)
References in periodicals archive
The team was wearing black - a portent of things to come maybe?
THE BIRMINGHAM POST: Black day
Joe Kernan's men have struggled to impose themselves on this year's Ulster championship and it appears that their be-low-par league form was indeed a portent of things to come.
Gaelic Football: ARMAGH v FERMANAGH
David Wright's Mental Disease in Victorian England may be a portent of things to come. Ostensibly a history of the Earlswood Asylum from its opening in 1847 to the turn of the century, the book is actually a study of English social policy toward dependent groups, including the mentally disabled as well as the mentally ill.
Mental Disability in Victorian England: The Earlswood Asylum, 1847-1901.