don’t call us, we’ll call you

We’ll  let  you  know  when  a  decision— probably  an  unfavorable  one—has  been  made.  This  formulaic  brush-off dates from the mid-1940s and probably comes from the theater, ending an audition for a part. It was soon broadened to many areas where a candidate is rejected (for a job, political office, athletic team, and so on). A newer ver- sion of the theatrical rejection is Thank you very much, said without a hint of the gratitude implied by the words. It, too, may become a cliché.