proof of the pudding is in the eating, the

The final results are the only way to judge something's quality or veracity. Our analysts think that the marketing campaign will reinvigorate our sales, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so let's see how our figures look at the end of the year. OK, if I did everything right, the engine should work right, but the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Prov. You don't know the quality of something until you have tried it or experienced it. Theory says that this material will produce a superior widget, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

People say the proof of the pudding is in the eating to mean that something can only be judged to be good or bad after it has been tried or used. Such therapies should not be dismissed out of hand, particularly when the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Note: People often vary this expression, for example by just talking about the proof of the pudding. The proof of the pudding, so to speak, will be if sales of English cheese go up. Note: In this expression, `proof' means the testing of something rather than establishing that it is true. The idea is that the best way to test the quality of a pudding is to taste it rather than admire its appearance.

Performance is the only valid test. This proverbial expression of quality control dates from about 1600, appearing in print in William Camden’s Remains Concerning Britain (1605). It has been repeated many times over the centuries, particularly by British writers (including George Bernard Shaw and W. Somerset Maugham), for whom pudding is more of a basic dish than it is to Americans (it originally meant a kind of sausage, and later any food inside a crust); the Economist entitled a survey of the advertising industry “Proof of the Pudding” (June 1990). The term, generally shortened to “proof of the pudding,” survives on this side of the Atlantic as well.